The Unexpected
by Hey It's That Guy
Summary: Change. It is the thing that many fear more than anything. We are safe with what we are familiar with, but change is unknown and unpredictable. That same unknown is brought forth when a normal iguana goes through a phenomenal change thanks to Titan blood. One blonde boy encounters this beast, forming a bond. This bond may very well save them from Humanity's mistake.
1. Origin

**Been interested on writing this for quite some time now. Especially since the crossover potential is so great. Hope you all enjoy. I very much want to give a shout out to Z-King. They inspired me to write this story and if you haven't already read their Godzilla x Titan fics, JUST DO IT!**

 _Year 0844_

The tall trees within the forest shadowed the ground leaving only patches of sunlight to warm the grass and shrubs. Birds made various calls to each other, cicadas moved their wings constantly, and even a few deer sang one or two notes in between bites of grass. Everything was peaceful and like nature intended it to be.

 _CRASH_

Such peace was never meant to last in this world however, as a tree was forcefully knocked over by the rampaging 15 meter Titan that rattled the ground with each step. Of course Titans didn't just stomp around wildly for no reason. They only acted wild when around their source of food: humans. This far into a wooded area the only humans that would have any reason to be there were of course the ones either on horseback or flying between trees using their 3 Dimensional Maneuver Gear.

These men and women were members of the Survey Corps; soldiers dedicated to fighting the Titans outside the Walls of the last known civilization of humanity and also seeking to expand and claim new land for colonization. Many civilians thought them hopeless fools doomed to either fail their task, or die, or both. The other two branches of the military, the Military Police and the Garrison, respected their courage, but like the civilians thought them to be living on borrowed time.

Nevertheless, the current scouting party consisting of 7 soldiers, 4 men and 3 women, had gone several hours without encountering a single Titan, strange as that was, until stumbling across this one. It was tan, with short black hair, one eye shut, and its mouth hanging open like a Big Mouth Bass. Like most Titans it wasn't very intelligent and its coordination was so bad it missed the 3 swinging soldiers by a large margin. They, of course, had no such problem.

One of the two men dodged another clumsy attack easily, but his face was set in a stony glare. Not at the Titan, but at the other male using 3D Gear. "Nick, I think it would be best to stop screwing around and kill this damn thing now. It's more interested in us than those riding the horses, so we've no danger of being stranded out here."

Nick, an unassuming man with glasses and a beret, nodded meekly in return. "Ok Philippe, I was just trying to be cautious is all." Turning to the female soldier shooting from tree to tree, he pointed to her, then to one of the Titans arms. "Hit it fast Audrey, then I can go for the nape!"

Audrey nodded, sweeping a strand of blonde hair away from her eyes as she made her move. With a quick burst from her Gear she went from slightly behind the group to pacing evenly with the Titan. Pulling a blade and gripping it till her gloved knuckles were surely white, Audrey activated her Gear as she turned her hips slightly. The burst sent her flying past the monster and with a swipe of her blade it lost its right arm at the elbow. Of course the Titan felt nothing, but with that side now much safer, or as safe as could be in the situation, Nick followed up with a move to the back of the Titans neck. The killing blow was quick, textbook in its execution, if a little stiffer than one needed in the field.

With a ragged gasp the Titan stopped running and fell to its knees. Smoke rose from the gaping hole now present in its neck, the chunk of flesh cut away sent somewhere else from the force of Nicks attack. Hitting the ground no longer moving or making any noise, smoke began to wisp off the Titans skin, the sign that it was truly dead. Next to its body was a massive pile of blood that too had smoke seeping away, the liquid evaporating into nothing just like the body was doing, though with the amount it would be some time before it was all gone.

The four soldiers on horseback pulled back on the reigns gently until their steeds came to a halt. This allowed Nick, Audrey, and Philippe to catch up and situate themselves on a horse with another soldier. The one left alone on his horse was Hicks, the captain assigned to this particular group for the mission. His face was set in a frown as he stared down Nick. "Sloppy as usual Tatopolous, even after all the training you still have moments where you're second-guessing yourself."

For his credit Nick merely scratched the back of his neck, red dusting his cheeks slightly. Hicks shook his head, then smirked at the body of the dead Titan. "Good work though team. Didn't get out as far as we wanted, but at least that's another monster dead that won't be feeding on us. Let's get back home before more show up."

With positive 'Yes sirs' the squad set off towards the Walls at a quick pace. Their horses were tired from outrunning the Titan, but so long as they didn't push too hard the animals would make it just fine. It would probably be around nightfall when they made it back. Of course, had they stayed, they may have witnessed something extraordinary that would not be explained or understood for quite some time.

Several feet away from the dissolving Titan blood the ground moved about for a second until a small, green shape emerged from the soil. The creature sniffed at the air, turning its head in the direction of the blood, and with some struggling pulled the rest of its tiny body out of the ground. It was an iguana, or something very close to it, and looked to be an infant at that. Greenish-black in color and a bit on the skinny side, the iguana looked around to make sure no predators were near before slowly moving towards the blood. The animal was hungry, thirsty, and a bit lonely as well. It did not know where its mother or siblings were, and several hours had passed since it last ate.

The chance to reunite with kin was small with all the Titans walking around. While they did not attack things non-human the giants were oblivious to what they may or may not step on, resulting in many creatures being killed by pure chance. While some could run away or get to shelter, others did not have that luxury. This iguana was indeed very lucky to be alive at the moment, if a little starved.

With the distance finally closed the iguana opened its mouth and began to sip at the Titan blood. It didn't taste very good, but to the infant it served the purpose to ease its thirst. So the reptile continued to lap up the liquid for another minute, filling its stomach until a feeling of fullness was reached at last. Most of the blood had evaporated at this point, but the creature was no longer thirsty so that did not bother it. It was now time to find actually food, perhaps a few dozen insects or maybe a fish if a lake could be found. However, before the iguana could crawl somewhere else, terrible pain racked through its tiny body. A harsh burning sensation flashed under scaled skin, followed by several powerful convulsions that left it unable to hold itself up. The reptile growled in pain, not able to do much of anything else as the burning feeling and convulsions continued. Small eyes closed awaiting for the end to come, whether from death or when whatever was happening stopped.

It was 2 hours later when the iguana couldn't feel pain of any kind anymore. Though, it felt _very_ different than it had before drinking the Titan blood. Slowly the reptile opened its eyes, the orange orbs seeing things from a higher perspective than before. Groaning at the feel of sore muscles it tried pushing itself off the ground, only to stumble and falter when its limbs responded different than it was used to. Where once he needed to support most of his weight using his front legs, now the two limbs felt like they were oddly placed on his body for such a task.

Shakenly trying to stand again this time he put more effort into it with his hind legs. Slowly, but surely, the iguana maneuvered his legs into a position that felt comfortable and pushed up. His legs were unused to being used like this, but keeping strong and not moving too quickly he stood at full height at last. Before all the pain he'd been a small creature not even 6 inches tall. Now he stood 1.7 meters tall, his length from the tip of his nose to the end of his tail he was 3 meters, instead of one rows of scutes down his back he now had three, though they were small and undeveloped as he was so young. Turning his neck to look further at himself the reptile saw that the legs supporting him were skinny and oddly bird-like in shape. He stood digitigrade now instead of how before his feet had been flush with the ground. Interestingly both his feet and hands only had four toes/fingers now instead of five.

Looking at his front legs they had changed slightly, now more like a pair of arms instead of a second pair of legs. They rested comfortably close to his chest, but with some quick movement he learned they responded easily. Perhaps digging would not be a problem as he worried. With the body of the Titan and its blood long gone the mutated iguana did not know where to go from here. However, he decided to test out his senses and was pleased to find that his sense of smell was much greater than it had ever been.

The scent of the humans that killed the Titan still lingered in the air, though just barely, and presented a clear trail through the forest. Had his body not been changed his nose wouldn't have picked up upon the dying scent. So, with no other real paths to follow at the moment, and remembering that those humans had basically provided him 'food' when they spilled the Titan blood upon the ground, the reptile took a shaky step forward, then another, and another. Slowly getting used to walking upon two legs instead of four, and constantly adjusting his center of gravity, the tall animal set out for wherever the humans went off to.

 **Shiganshina District**

A young blonde boy hid behind a tree as stealthy as could be, peaking an eye around the bark to watch his prey. Taking a deep breath the boy tensed his leg muscles and got ready to attack. Two more seconds passed before he ran out, several quick strides over the grass and a semi-impressive leap into the air. Unfortunately the cute looking bird that had been pecking at the ground for food was smarter than the boy. Instead of taking off in flight it hopped backwards once, putting itself just out of reach from the 9-year-old child.

Hitting the ground with a gasp of air forced from his lungs, Armin Arlert groaned pathetically at his 5th failed attempt of the day to catch this bird. He wasn't trying to hurt it, he just wanted to play with it, not really knowing that wild birds weren't supposed to be kept as pets. Finally raising his head up his vision was instantly filled with the red colored bird only an inch from his face, staring at him intently. A moment of odd silence went by of them just watching each other, until the bird lightly smacked him on the forehead with its large wing. It didn't hurt at all, but Armin's pride sure felt like a Titan had stepped on it.

Another look from the bird was given before it turned around and flew into the air, long tail trailing behind it, deciding that further torture of the human boy could come later. Armin sighed before smiling and giving a small wave to the bird. "Bye Quetzalcoatl, I'll see you again soon!" The bird gave no response as it soared in the direction of the Wall, apparently wanting to explore some in the Titan-filled wasteland. Smiling to himself Armin walked back behind the tree to grab his bag and start heading home. His grandpa would want him in for lunch soon, and today the blonde had been promised some chicken stew. A meal like that wasn't exactly rare for someone living in Shiganshina, but it was portioned carefully so as to not go through every chicken a family might own.

Armin didn't make it three steps when the ground in front of him began to crack and separate. The boy didn't get much of a chance to do anything before some kind of….lizard…thing had clawed its way out of the ground and stood before him on two feet. Standing at 1.7 meters the creature seemed to tower over Armin, who only reached 4'4" at this stage of his life. The creature looked around the area for a moment before setting its sights on Armin. It sniffed the air several times in various directions and once more looked at Armin, sniffing again, then started walking towards the boy.

Armin's eyes were wide as could be, watching the creature take steps towards him. For each step the lizard took Armin backed away in turn, until his back hit the tree he'd been hiding behind. His hands shook, covered in a film of sweat, and did not raise to defend himself when the creature was only a foot away. He wanted to scream, he _should_ scream, do his best to attract the attention of adults. When the lizard sniffed him again, its head almost touching him, Armin thought for sure he was going to die. People had always feared the Titans outside the Walls, yet here was some unknown reptile inside humanity's sanctuary about to eat him. It was…huh?

The creature was nuzzling the bag hanging off his shoulder curiously, making some kind of low-pitched screeching sound. Why…would…..it…..reaching into his bag slowly Armin pulled out the only thing there: a loaf of bread his grandpa had given him in case he got hungry during his time outdoors. The second the bread was in the open the animal became visibly excited, grabbing the loaf in its teeth and chewing it to bits within seconds. Once the loaf of bread was eaten the reptile nudged Armin's chest before licking the blondes cheek with a slimy tongue.

"Gah! Gross!" When just moments before the young boy had been terrified, he was now more or less a bit afraid, but more so he was curious and confused about this animal. "I…you're welcome?" Surprisingly, as if the thing understood what he said, it nudged his face, making cooing noises like some kind of happy baby. Odd, but perhaps whatever this thing was it was indeed a baby, or very young at best. Armin knew a little about animals, he was rather fond of them so what few books he could find about them he read, but he'd never come across an animal like this.

Now it was staring him in the eye, burnt orange meeting light blue, and even at 9 years of age Armin could tell there was intelligence behind those glassy orbs. It didn't attack, didn't hiss, or do anything aggressive in the slightest. Perhaps it wanted more food? The bread was all he'd brought with him, but maybe…..it seemed to want to interact with him. Perhaps….

"So…..what should I call you?" He was still a little nervous, but his fear had all but vanished by now.

 **'Hrrrrraaaaaa'**

The reptile made a nasally sounding roar in response to his question. Armin wasn't sure if it was actually replying, or just making its call because he'd spoke. Either way he needed to find a name for his new….friend. "Hmmm, I'm not really sure what a good name for a big lizard would be. Although…lizard…..lizard…liz…maybe…Zilla?" It sounded like a solid enough name for the creature. It happily nudged him again, though unknown to Armin it was out of a desire to play instead of approval of the name.

The first group of humans it encountered had inadvertently saved his life by providing food. This small human, though at first smelling strongly of fear, had given him food as well and not tried to attack him. Granted the human was small compared to him, but he was still getting used to the changes in his scaled body, and so while wanting to play with the kind human, he too was wary. So far the encounter was proving positive however, though it understood none of the speech coming from Armin. Having been separate from his brood now for days, the altered iguana decided to instead attempt interaction and bonding with this human.

Zilla once more licked Armin's face with a coo, then playfully nipped at his shoulder. Armin for his part was grossed out by the saliva, and nervous from the sharp teeth being so close. "A-alright I'll play with you. Just…..just be easy ok?" Zilla promptly answered by putting his four-fingered hands around the boy and chewing on some of his hair. "Or….you can do that." Despite himself Armin smiled, happy to find such a friendly animal, strange as it may be.

 **Let me know what you all thought please! I enjoy finding out what people think about my writing.**


	2. Origin Part II

**Thank you everyone for the support so far. It's much appreciated and helps keep me motivated to write more. I apologize for the wait, but this week was hectic and kept me busy.**

 **To answer you Potato, he's mostly from the Series, with bits and pieces of the other versions added here and there. Plus, we will see some timeskips here and there that will speed up his growth. Not so much as to skip over development, but in order to be more realistic about him growing. In the Series he went from baby sized to 15 meters within days. Then to adult size in like a week maybe. Not gonna happen that way here.**

Armin looked around the area for signs of his friend. It was a game to see if he could spot him before the lizard pounced. There were some broken tree branches laying near the trunk to his left, as well as the faint imprint of three-toed footprints, but otherwise no clear sign of where the iguana might be. A rustling sound from a bush to his left got his attention. The blonde moved towards it, but was dismayed to find a raccoon instead. The furry animal took off in fright into a tree, staring down Armin with caution.

Armin smiled up at the cute animal, giving a friendly wave. He was about to move to another section of trees when scaled jaws grabbed ahold of the back of his shirt, lifting him into the air. "Dang it. Alright, alright, you got me….again." He was dropped on his rear without warning. Looking up his blue orbs met orange for the third day in a row. Instead of being frightened, however, Armin was happy to see his large friend. The iguana provided him a source of fun and mystery.

Zilla nudged Armin lightly while pointing his head at the bag slung over the boy's shoulder. Armin smiled and reached into the bag, pulling out a decent sized piece of ham. Zilla became visibly excited at the sight and opened his mouth. Armin tossed the meat into the lizard's jaws, and within seconds it was swallowed. Through trial and error Armin learned that while Zilla would eat bread, it wasn't a food item it really liked, and was much more interested in cooked meat. The blonde boy had also seen his friend attack an ant hill, using his slimy tongue to scope up ants by the dozens. Since he wasn't able to gather a large amount of bugs, meat that his grandpa provided for his lunch had to do, while he happily ate the bread.

"Have you been keeping out of sight Zilla?" Armin asked the mutated iguana.

 **'Hrrrraaaaa'**

Many people would assume Armin stupid for talking to Zilla as if it were another person. However the 9-year-old was smart enough to notice that Zilla seemed to actually react to things with quite a bit of intelligence. Small tasks that would require training an animal for weeks to months at a time only took hours at most for the tall lizard. Plus there was the fact that after only one day Zilla responded to calls of his name easily. Yes, whatever kind of creature Zilla was, Armin knew that with time it might become smarter than some humans. At least, some of the humans his grandpa told him to stay away from.

For only having been around each other a total of three days, they shared a bond already that gave Armin a warm feeling. While he had Eren and Mikasa, whom he wouldn't give up for anything, he wasn't as close to them as they were to each other. The other boy and his adopted sister lived together, and while they could get on the other's nerves, it was obvious they cared greatly for one another. Armin lived with his grandfather several blocks away from them, so sometimes whenever he wanted to visit they were already out and about doing something. The blonde wasn't lonely, nor did he feel like a third wheel around his two friends, but finding Zilla allowed him his own partner that he could become close to.

Armin raised his hands to get Zilla's attention, said lizard eyeing the raccoon that was still in the tree. "Ok, let's practice what we've been working on." He put his hands in the air as high as they could go. "Up." Zilla responded to the command, adjusting his body from a horizontal position to a more upright one. His tail rested on the ground now and his neck craned slightly so he could see down at Armin. While he was tall before, now the changed in posture gave him another foot-and-a-half over the human.

With an approving nod Armin brought his hands low. "Down." Zilla lowered his body until it completely rested on the ground. His knee and hip joints rotating to allow the lizard's body to adjust in such a way, while his shins, ankles, and feet remained as they were. Truly, Armin believed, whatever wonder allowed this creature to develop such physiology that was functional and gave Zilla a large deal of grace and agility, it was amazing to say the least. Of course Armin had no idea that Zilla's body structure was not natural at all, but such mysteries didn't hold his focus for too long.

"Stand." Zilla rose to his normal height and posture. "Back up, back up." Two steps backwards resulted in a smile. Reaching into his bag Armin pulled out a rather sturdy looking stick he'd found yesterday during their playtime. "Ok, just like before. Fetch!" The boy tossed the stick as hard as he could. His iguana friend rushed after it with long strides of its nimble legs. Instead of picking it up with his mouth however, Zilla grabbed it in one of his clawed hands. "Now, bring it back." His return wasn't as fast this time, but he came straight back to Armin and dropped the stick at the boy's feet. "Great job boy!"

 **'Hrrrraaaaa'** Zilla called out happily at hearing the praise. He understood the concepts the boy was teaching him, the simple worded commands that could be applied to other situations if needed. Indeed, Zilla was gaining intelligence at a rather fast rate. Faster than before the pain that changed his body. He did not know where his family was, but this young human boy was doing a fine job of being a parent to him. He had everything that he needed: food, water, social skills, playtime, and plenty of area to explore. It understood on some level that they were different, that Parent was not the same as him, but that did not matter. They shared a bond that, while at first formed from confusion and curiosity, had changed into something more.

His internal thoughts were interrupted by Armin scratching the top of his head. Zilla cooed from the feeling and attention, always happy when Parent would be physical like this. Of course when he tried to do the same, like gently chewing on a mouthful of blonde hair, or running his slimy tongue along Armin's face, Armin would say that word 'gross'. Yet the boy took such affections as they came, knowing that so long as Zilla didn't get too rough when they were affectionate, or played, that he would be ok.

This didn't mean that Zilla wasn't a bit devious. Just like when he snuck up on Armin today and yesterday, the iguana moved forward, moved Armin's head with his claw, and grabbed a mouthful of the boy's jacket. Lifting him into the air and shaking him like a chew toy for a few moments, Zilla dropped the blonde to the ground once more. To add insult to injury before Armin could stand back up Zilla put one scaled foot on the boy to hold him down. None of what he'd done was aggressive or particularly rough, it was simply one of the mutant's way of playing.

Huffing to himself, but nonetheless smiling, Armin waved his arms in a faked helplessness. "Alright, alright you've once again proven how tough you are. Let me up before ants crawl in my nose or something." A rumble answered him and the pressure on his back disappeared. Standing one more Armin had a surprise for his reptilian friend that he knew the animal would enjoy. "Ok Zilla, I know you already had something to eat but." He reached into his pocket and pulled out a red licorice stick. "I thought we'd see if you can eat sweets or if you like them." Holding out the treat in his hand, he watched Zilla sniff it curiously. A snake-like tongue scooped it up and into his waiting mouth.

Zilla rolled the treat around in his mouth, getting a taste of it and being confused by how different the food was to bread, meat, or insects. "Well, what do you think?" Zilla eyed Armin blankly before spiting the treat out, the licorice hitting Armin's face with a _splat_ and sticking to his cheek. A moaning grumble was of course given, but Armin was paying more attention to the candy on his skin. "Ok, note to self, smaller portions when trying new things."

 **Next Day**

Zilla groaned and tried to curl in on himself further, coming out of his wonderful sleep when a bird kept making an annoying call. Scaled eyelids opened and allowed orange orbs to scan the surroundings for threats. A few seconds confirmed that he was alone, except that damn bird that kept sounding off with shrill noises to whatever else was out there. Well, he was awake now, so there was no use trying to go back to sleep. Scratching at an itch along his dewlap while he stood, Zilla walked to a nearby pond that had been providing him with water for the last four days. Snake-like tongue scooping the wonderful tasting liquid into his mouth, the iguana wondered when Parent would come by today. So far he had been coming at the same time each day, but it was understood between them that if he was late, or absent completely, that Zilla would have to unfortunately keep himself entertained until they next saw each other.

The mutant wondered what they would do today. Would today be another day of Parent teaching him things? Perhaps they would play all day like they had the first day? Whatever he and Parent did it would make the lizard content, for it was still time spent together with the blonde. Really that was all that mattered, and food of course, but the interaction was nice after the many long days of being alone before it had burrowed its way behind those large walls that kept the Large Ones out.

Those were scary; the Large Ones. Although it had been thirsty enough to overcome fear when it drank the spilled blood of a Large One, it was smart enough to stay away from the living ones. Strangely, the Large Ones never tried to attack him when their paths crossed. At first he believed the reason was they were unable to catch sight of him, but that idea was proven wrong when a Large One looked right at him and continued to go on its way without so much as a second glance. That was odd, but Zilla wasn't going to push his luck. So when he'd been outside the Walls he had only traveled at night. Those large, human look-alikes were less active once the sun went down. Some even seemed to sleep while standing in place, for lack of a better explanation. Now that Zilla had claimed a small amount of territory within the Walls where the Large Ones could not get to, he only had to deal with other animals.

Before, he was small and would never have been able to claim such a large amount of territory. Now however, with his increase in size, he asserted his dominance over the deer, possums, raccoons, and other such forest creatures. He did not eat any of them, for he only had a desire to hunt insects and fish, but he made sure they knew this area belonged to him. Such actions were a mixture of his natural instincts and his newfound, growing intelligence. Instincts demanded territory to establish a place to rest and eventually mate, Intelligence knew that a decent sized area also meant a safe place to play and spend time with Parent.

Unfortunately this experience would not last.

After having broken open a dead tree and feasted upon the termites within, Zilla's senses picked up the sounds and smells of three intruders in his territory. A few sniffs told him that they smelled similar to Parent, but different enough to know they were not the small boy. Pack mates, or perhaps humans from another pack? Unsure of the situation Zilla walked in the direction of the intruders.

"Look man, I'm telling you that if you don't make a move to let Sarah know you like her and want to take her on a date, she's going to find some other guy and you'll be stuck in the friend-zone permanently." One voice that sounded frustrated spoke.

"But…I'm just so worried. I mean, if she doesn't return my feelings then our friendship we already have is going to turn weird after that." This voice had an air of near hopelessness to it.

The first man sighed, wishing that the other person would stop being so fearful and just take his advice for once. "It will only get weird if you _make_ it weird. Sarah's your friend Kevin, has been for years now, if she rejects romantic feelings for you do you really think that is going to make her never talk to you again? Plus, if _she_ makes things weird, then she wasn't a true friend and you're better off finding another friend or lover." He loved his friend to death, but times like this frustrated him to no end.

"But….I guess…well…." Kevin stumbled, only for them to be interrupted by the third man.

"For once in your damn life just take a risk and see what happens. For fuck's sake you'll either be in the same boat as before, you'll end up getting some, or the whole thing will explode and you won't have to worry about it anymore." The man's voice sounded like gravel, whether from irritation or age or both was anyone's guess. "Now I'd be really happy if you two could shut up and keep your eyes peeled for suspicious shit. We're supposed to be patrolling this area remember?"

The first man groaned at the extreme _professionalism_ , as it were, that their comrade put forth. "Terry I really think you're being a bit too serious about this. Obviously Titans aren't getting past the Wall, so even if we ran across some kids vandalizing things or something it's not _that_ big of a deal."

Terry's scoff sounded more like a bear growling than any noise a human would make. "Scott we are part of something big! As members of the Garrison we're the only thing in this world keeping law and order. If we slack off then civilization as we know it could crumble into chaos brother! Don't you see? The people in these Walls need us to do our jobs 100%, and that means taking even the most boring patrols seriously."

Scott was silent for a moment, as if dumbfounded by how truly _serious_ Terry took his job. Yes, whenever people committed a crime the Garrison soldiers were the ones that handled it, but a few crimes here and there were nothing to have a stroke over. Scott gave credit that Terry was a good soldier, having been top of their class in all areas, but the man needed to lighten up. "Since you seem so…. _convinced_ then why don't you tell me what you think could possibly bring chaos to Shiganshina?"

It just so happened that right after Scott asked that question that the three men passed a large tree and encountered the curious form of Zilla, who stared them down quietly. The three men stared right back, in shock, for a moment not sure what the hell they were seeing. Zilla tilted his head, getting a clearer picture than he had before. These were the same type of being as Parent, and they were obviously not Young, but they didn't smell like Pack. He smelled no trace of Parent on them, and the smell of the trees was quite fresh on them, so they must have been a different Pack. It was rather interesting how Zilla's brain worked; how it combined the centuries of raw instincts that it was born with, with the high intelligence and steep learning curve granted to it since changing. The Titan Serum was a wonderful thing in that regard, not so wonderful that it turned humans into mindless beasts.

Just as Zilla was about to approach them and find if their intentions towards him, or Parent since Armin came by every day, were good or bad, the men finally got ahold of themselves. "What the hell is that?!" Kevin took a step back while his hand went for one of his blades, training kicking in at the moment.

"Doesn't matter, it isn't human so it goes down!" Terry pulled his blade and charged the reptile.

They were hostile, so it seemed that this would be the first time Zilla would have to defend his territory. The three humans ran at him with their blades held to the side, training running in their minds full force. Scott reach Zilla first, slashing at the beast's face. Zilla reacted fast and bit down on the sword, yanking it out of Scott's grasp. Letting the blade drop to the ground Zilla tried to bite the man on his shoulder, but the soldier evaded and struck out with his second blade. The metal sliced a clean line into Zilla's left side. Still being an infant Zilla's scales weren't fully developed to protect him against things like a human's sword.

Crying out in pain Zilla swiped a fore claw across Scott's chest. The strike didn't go too deep, but it was enough to put the man down for the rest of the fight. Turning towards the other two he raised his arm just in time to block a slash from Kevin, but in doing so left himself open to Terry. The attack was again to his left side, forcing Zilla to back off from Kevin, but when he did he quickly bit down on the arm Terry sliced him with. The man yelled in pain, but grit his teeth and tried punching Zilla in his snout. Once more backing away in an impressive show of agility Zilla growled in anger and a little fear. These humans were very tough, it wasn't like when he and Parent would play and Armin was easily overpowered.

It looked like today would be a loss for the reptile. Knowing that the chances of taking both men down were slim Zilla turned and ran away as fast as he could. Although Terry and Kevin gave chase they couldn't do anything to stop the reptile when it started digging and disappeared into the ground. Zilla knew that its territory was lost, but at least it wouldn't die today. It had never truly fought another being before, and though he and those humans were roughly the same size they were stronger. Perhaps with time, and growth, he could take his territory back. Once he would be able to properly defend territory he and Parent could spend more time together.


	3. Saved

**Thank you once more for a review Z-King and Potato. Potato, for you questions I'm keeping that a secret. I will say that he's going to change things at the very least, but other than that you'll just have to wait. As for Hange, she'll do what she does best.**

 **Year 0845**

It was eerie how today would be looked back upon by history. How the day started as normal as any other, only to end with a vast change in Humanity's position against the Titans.

"Why were they messing with you?"

Armin looked over at his friend Eren, then turned his gaze back to his knees. "I was talking about how one day Mankind would live beyond the Walls again. That there is so much we don't know and that we've lost because of how everyone has been here for 100 years." The blonde boy so wished they could safely see what laid beyond the Walls that protected them from extermination.

"Idiots! Everyone has the right to think about something better than this." To further emphasize his anger Eren tossed a rock into the river, uncaringly watching it bounce twice before sinking.

"But I see where they're coming from, even if I don't agree with it." Eren turned to look at Armin. The smaller boy was hugging his knees just a bit tighter. "Where we are, here and now, inside the Walls we're safe. Nobody wants to risk that security even if it means having to give up things. What the government is doing….it's the same as what the people are feeling even if they don't want to admit it."

The dark-haired boy looked away angrily, not liking that opinion at all. "If the mindless masses want to do that they can all go to hell." His left hand balled into such a tight fist it felt as if his palm were about to start bleeding.

"Someone's going to hear you." Mikasa usually cool expression was replaced with a frown. The long-haired girl turned her gaze from the water to Eren and Armin, though her eyes locked onto her brother's. "Keep quiet unless you want trouble."

It took only a second for Eren to form a response. "So what, you'll just rat me out no matter how quiet I am." He scowled just the slightest at her, still upset over the confrontation with his mom about his plan to join the Scouts.

Armin had no clue that incident took place however, and was very confused about where Eren's hostility was coming from. "What are you…?"

"I never promised you that I'd keep silent. You always assume things without thinking twice." Mikasa wished that just for once Eren would think about how other people felt instead of being so selfish. She hated the Walls and the Titans too, but until the situation could be changed she didn't see any benefit in complaining about things all the time.

Armin finally felt that he had an idea of what they were talking about. His eyes widened a bit after turning back to Eren. "Your parents know about the Scouts?"

Eren nodded. "Pretty much, and neither of them were exactly happy about it. Especially my mom."

The blonde sighed, he expected this kind of thing from Eren's parents. "No surprise there." The wind picked up for a moment, blowing dead leaves into the air and ruffling their hair, before it died back down to a normal level. "It's really sad what most people here are willing to settle for in exchange for a sense of security that's an illusion at best. As much as we hope otherwise, whether another year or another 100 years, eventually all of this won't protect us anymore. Something has to change."

Eren and Mikasa didn't like to hear their normally happy friend speak with such fatalism, with such…depression. While Mikasa didn't have a sunshine and rainbows outlook on life, and Eren was always either angry or discontent, they at least tried to do better if only for their parents. However, they had noticed that Armin had changed just the slightest in the last year. The boy told them he was fine and that nothing was wrong, but sometimes he just gave off a sense of vulnerability that he couldn't hide. Perhaps as time went on the idea of being stuck behind the Walls, with Titans waiting to devour them on the other side, weighed on his mind more than he would admit to them. Whatever the case, they would stick by him and do their best to give him a shoulder to lean on when the time came.

Their moment of peace was broken by a loud explosion and, unseen to them, a yellow bolt of lightning striking just outside the Wall. The impact sent the three of them nearly a foot off the ground. Landing back on the stone beneath them didn't really hurt, but the three children were definitely jarred. When they stood up they heard voices from the main road speaking frantically. Several men were looking in the direction of the Wall and running towards it. Despite knowing that it could be dangerous Armin ran to the road and followed the general direction everyone was going. He vaguely heard Eren calling out to him but the words were lost as his goal was to see what had caused whatever took place moments ago.

Armin jogged to where he saw many people gathered in one of the various district squares. Nobody was moving, no one spoke. It was a deathly silent scene he came upon. Everyone was staring at the top of the Wall, or more specifically, at what appeared to be a large red hand gripping onto the stone in the same area that the lightning had struck. Dark smoke rose into the air, partially clouding the sun, but not more so than the whites clouds already did. Armin stopped where he stood, transfixed on that red-colored hand. His mind was already coming up with an explanation, but he so wished that it would turn out he was wrong.

"Armin talk to me! What's going on, some kind of explosion or?" Whatever else Eren was going to ask was lost as he too looked at the top of the Wall. His eyes widened considerably upon seeing the human shaped hand tighten its grip enough to damage the Wall.

Armin's body started shaking when he saw what the hand had done. "That Wall is 50 meters high."

Eren watched in pure horror as the almost skinless looking head started to rise above the top of the Wall. "It's a Titan." How could a Titan be so large?! No one had ever reported seeing one grow much bigger than 25-30 meters in height, at least that's what Hannes told him once. This one, however, was taller than the Wall by at least 5-10 meters.

At first it just stared at them, watching them like ants, until the bottom of the Wall exploded inward. Large pieces of debris flew in all directions. Some of the rock crushed homes, others numerous people, while some tumbled and hit nothing along their path. The initial panic and fear from the debris subsided as everyone realized what just happened. As the skinless Titan began to disappear a humanoid shape emerged from the opening in the Wall.

That's when they began to appear. The grinning monsters that mindlessly and mercilessly hunted Mankind like animals: Titans.

"RUN! They've breached the Wall!" No one hesitated in running as fast as they were able towards Wall Maria. The pounding sound of each step the Titans made served to multiply everyone's fear exponentially. Though they had been safe behind the Walls for 100 years, the stories told by the Scouting Legion about what happened when someone was caught by a Titan were horrific enough that the citizens of Shiganshina knew to not stop running no matter what.

Mikasa and Armin watched several Titans enter from the hole apprehensively, the blonde backing away a step. "We have to get to the Inner Wall." That's when he noticed Eren walking _towards_ the Titans. "Eren!"

However, Eren was not listening to anything around him. Only one thing concerned him right now. "I left Mom back at the house. I have to find her." It was like he was in a trance and nothing was going to stop him.

Mikasa ran after her adopted brother, already knowing where he was going and why. She couldn't leave Mom behind and wasn't about to let Eren out of her sight either. "Mikasa wait!" Armin called out to the long-haired girl, but just like Eren she ignored him. That's when he noticed how badly his hand was now shaking. Armin felt such primal fear right now, like a rabbit backed into a corner by a fox. His only friends in the world were heading towards their possible deaths, on the chance that they would find Mrs. Jaeger alive. How? How could they face such terror, how did they muster the strength to move headfirst into danger?

This was…..this was…was it the end?

The thing about chance, and space, and time is that no matter what happens in the universe it will always lead to something of equal consequence. In one such instance, Armin would run towards the evacuation boats that would take Shiganshina's survivors to Wall Maria and Wall Rosa, only to have Wall Maria lost to the Titans as well. Because of one significant difference, however, this universe would find itself meeting with a different set of events, a different set of actions and reactions.

Just as he was about to run towards the evacuation boats and look for his grandfather, Armin remembered something. A year ago when he'd been faced with fear and the unknown, instead of running away from it he had met that fear and squashed it. When he first met Zilla he'd been terrified and a normal person may have gone straight to the Garrison. Armin did not. He overcame fear and befriended the mutated iguana despite the potential risk. Yes, he understood now. The Titans could indeed wipe Eren and Mikasa into the ground like paste, along with Mrs. Jaeger and every other person living in Shiganshina.

But if that was his fate then Armin would face it. He was not going to abandon his friends. Not when they would need all the help they could get. His mind made up Armin ran towards the Jaeger home. Having been there numerous times he knew the fastest way to get there. All around him Armin could hear people screaming, crying, praying, or just yelling incoherent gibberish. It was pure chaos, but Armin did his best to ignore what went on. He didn't want to lose focus or be overwhelmed by the heartache happening to others.

Finally rounding a corner and seeing the crushed remains of the Jaeger's house nearly sent him to his knees. Eren and Mikasa were trying to lift a large piece of the house off Mrs. Jaeger, to no success, while a Titan with a large smile steadily made its way towards them. Mrs. Jaeger was telling Eren and Mikasa to leave her and run to safety, but Eren was having none of it. When Armin reached them he grabbed onto the wood next to Eren, adding his little bit of strength to the effort.

However their strength meant nothing. The debris moved a bit more than before, but not near enough to get Carla Jaeger out. Add in the fact that her legs were crushed and it seemed their chance to all escape from the approaching Titan was getting smaller. That's when Hannes landed, geared up and ready, crouching down in front of Carla.

"Hannes you have to get them out of here. They won't outrun the Titans on their own. Please, take them to safety." Carla did not want to die, but if it meant the children would live then she was ok with it.

Before Hannes was able to dismiss her request, about to tell her that he would kill the Smiling Titan and get them all out of there, a most odd noise was heard from one of the other destroyed homes across the road. It sounded like a loud groaning, almost like metal that was being strained by excess weight mixed with a whale. Not that they knew what a whale sounded like. The groaning was followed by the ground shaking slightly. It wasn't enough to knock anyone off their feet of course, more like a mild tremor at best.

Then something began to emerge from the destroyed home across the road. Without resistance of any kind a reptilian head broke free of the debris, announcing its presence to the area loudly. **'Hrrrraaaaa'** , Hannes, Carla, Mikasa, and Eren were brought to a standstill by the arrival of whatever this thing was. While the Titan that was making its way to them was far enough away to escape, this large reptile was perhaps 30-40 feet in front of them. At this close range running would be impossible, as would freeing Carla from her trapped position. The only one not filled with fear was Armin, who instead felt both awe and happiness.

"Zilla! Is that really you?" Heedless of Hannes and Carla calling for him to stay put, Armin rushed closer to the reptile that looked like a Titan-sized version of the animal he'd bonded with a year ago. Zilla leaned his head down and fondly nuzzled the boy with his snout. Being so much larger now of course meant that Armin was knocked to the ground, but he wasn't harmed in any way so the boy happily patted Zilla in a return of the affection. Of course the moment lasted but a second, as Armin turned his gaze to the still approaching Titan.

For whatever reason the Titan hadn't taken its eyes off the humans, completely ignoring Zilla like it didn't even exist. Armin was already thinking about what to do. "Zilla take that thing out! It wants to hurt us. Get, get it." To further punctuate his command he pointed at the Titan. While they hadn't had enough time to get too complicated with training and phrases, Armin was confident that they had learned enough during their four days of bonding, and the fact that Zilla seemed vastly intelligent gave him hope that his command would be understood on some level.

Zilla had emerged from below ground after sensing a number of intruders coming into his territory. It was pure chance that he managed to come across Parent again. His instincts made the message clear to him: Parent was in danger, therefore the threat must be eliminated. He didn't know how many of these large intruders there were, but after Parent was safe he would kill all that didn't belong here. This was his territory, his home, and the Large Ones could not be left to do as they pleased.

A light rumble was made to Parent, a warning to stand out of the way so as not to be harmed on accident. Stepping out of the remains of the house and onto the road Zilla walked to the Large One quickly. At 15 meters Zilla easily matched the height of the approaching threat. It finally looked up at him, but made no move to attack or run, continuing on its walk to the humans. Zilla raised a fore claw and slashed it from forehead to chin, blood spraying like water from a fountain. The Titan staggered back in pain, but for the most part was unaffected. Zilla grunted irritably seeing the enemy resume heading towards Parent. It noticed that the slashes made by his claws were closing rapidly as well. That would not do at all. This Large One would have to be killed some other way.

Despite having just been attacked the Smiling Titan still ignored Zilla. It was only a regular type Titan, therefore the intelligence it possessed was zero. Instincts drove the Titan, but hunger was so overwhelming that self-preservation and retaliation against threats did not exist within its mind. Thus why it did nothing to stop Zilla when the mutated reptile grabbed ahold of it by the neck and threw it face down on the ground. Without giving it a chance to get back up Zilla viciously assaulted its back with his claws, tearing flesh, bones, and organs like they were paper. When the Titan looked like a carved out animal carcass Zilla turned and took two steps back towards Parent. A rustling sound alerted him that perhaps his adversary wasn't quite dead. Turning back to the sight of the Titan getting on its hands and knees as the damage was once more healing, Zilla's irritation grew.

Stomping to it once again Zilla grabbed the Titan by the back of the head and slammed its face into the ground forcefully. Not giving it a chance to fight back Zilla clamped his jaws onto the back of the Titan's neck. It started to actually struggle against the large reptile, but with both hands pressing down on it the Titan could not muster much leverage, if any, to throw Zilla off. Giving one good squeeze of his jaws Zilla tore through the one weak spot all Titans shared. He spat out the chunk of flesh in his mouth and watched the, now, non-moving Large One begin to dissolve into nothing.

Huffing a dismissal towards the dead enemy Zilla turned and resumed walking to Parent. Parent was still just where he'd left him, along with those other humans. Everyone stopped trying to free Carla as Zilla stood before them again. Hannes was frozen in such fear that he didn't even think to reach for one of his blades, not that he would really know what to do against this monster that killed a Titan with such ease. Even Eren and Mikasa, whom normally had more bravado to them, stood silent, waiting to be devoured by the creature. Armin looked at his companions, seeing how afraid they were that they would die here and now. He had to assure them that Zilla wouldn't do anything to them.

"Guys it's alright. This is my friend Zilla. I found him a year ago in the woods near here and we bonded. Though," Armin frowned just a bit. "He was human-sized back then. Anyway, we can use him!"

Hannes finally broke from his stupor and looked at all three kids, then Carla. "Look we don't have time for this! Titans are taking more ground as we speak. We need to leave now!"

Eren objected to that command instantly. "No, we're not leaving without Mom! I don't care how many Titans come through the hole in the Wall, I won't abandon her!"

"Eren you and Mikasa have to get to safety! Please….I don't care if I die, but I couldn't let you die too. Take your sister and go!" Carla wished that her son was not as stubborn as he was. She knew he wanted to save her because he loved her, but if he died then even if she lived it wouldn't matter.

Eren was about to grab for the remains of his house again, already forming an argument against what his mother said, when Armin cut through all the chaos. "Stop!" Everyone looked at the short, blonde boy. It was very rare to see him raise his voice, or even become agitated enough to not act calmly. Behind him Zilla rumbled a bit, sensing Parent's mood deteriorate. Armin rushed to Carla and pointed at the debris holding her down. Turning to Zilla he spoke loudly, which was difficult over the sounds of terror coming from all over Shiganshina. "Zilla, lift this off her. We need to get her out, but we can't move this. Lift it." He used both hands to mime a lifting gesture, then pointed again at the debris.

To the group's shock Zilla moved closer, his clawed feet lightly shaking the ground with each step. The iguana reached out with his right hand and gently lifted the collapsed section of the house off Carla, tossing it away with the ease of a child picking up a stick. Moving quick Hannes and Eren grabbed hold of Carla and pulled her away from the wreckage. Her legs were horribly crushed, but from what they could see it looked like everything from her waist up was alright for the most part other than some light cuts and scratches. Eren looked up at Hannes with tears of relief, glad that at least some good was happening in all the bad around them.

"Now that we have Mom we can go."

Hannes eyed the boy for a moment before nodding. He, and everyone besides Armin, were doing their best to deal with that fact that a Titan-sized lizard was the one responsible for saving them and freeing Carla. He looked down at Carla with a frown. "I'm going to pick you up now. I won't lie and say it won't hurt, but if you can bear with it until we reach Wall Maria then we'll be safe and get you to a doctor."

Carla's tears doubled, not out of fear or sadness however. "I don't care about the pain, or even the chance I might never walk again. I'm just glad to be with my children. Hannes, thank you for your help. And," She looked at Armin, then Zilla. "Thank you as well." Though part of her still feared the beast, it was tempered by the fact that it had listened to Armin and saved her.

No one said anything else after that. Hannes picked Carla up bridal-style, not the most painless, but it was easy the run this way, and led the group in the direction of the Inner Wall. Zilla was about to follow since he wanted to keep Parent safe, but then Parent turned to him and pointed out towards where the sounds of screaming were coming from. "Zilla, get them. Stop the Titans, help humans. Help." The mixture of words and the feelings that Zilla could sense coming from Parent made his request clear. Instead of staying around him Parent wanted Zilla to go and defend the territory against the Large Intruders. The ones that had to be attacked on the back of the neck. Parent wanted him to protect the other humans, or at least as many as he could.

Part of him wanted to reject Parent's task and stay within sight of the boy. It was part of his duty within their _Nest_ , as it were, to protect Parent above all else. However, if Parent wanted him to go and eliminate threats to others of the _Nest_ , then he would obey. Parent was to be obeyed after all, unless it endangered the family. **'Skreenk'** Stepping over the group Zilla picked up speed and turned at the intersecting road ahead, disappearing from their view as the sound of his running stomps grew fainter.


	4. First Blood

**Thank you once more for all the support you guys are giving. Your reviews and favs really keep me motivated. Also, sorry to say that updates may start taking a little longer. I'm starting a new job that's going to have me working 40 hours every week, and if overtime happens I'll have to work it because the boss says so and such.**

Screams filled the air all around. Men, women, and children running for their lives. Doing the best they could to outrun the Titans, to place themselves outside of their long reach. However, many failed to achieve that goal. In the areas closest to the breach Titans began to snatch running humans and consume them, then moved on to repeat the process. To the people that had lived their whole lives in peace it seemed like this was the end of the world to them.

One lone woman ran into an alley, hoping to find some kind of shelter from the massive invaders. Her breath was ragged, her lungs burning in agony as she continued to run without pause. When the alley came to an end she ran round the corner, only to be met with despair when a dead end awaited her. Looking around she saw no doors or entryways that would allow her to further escape from the Titans. Looking back the way she came the woman figured that it was better to stay where she was, somewhat hidden, than running out in the open where she could be snatched easily.

A rustling noise above her nearly made her heart stop. Slowly looking up she knew that her time had come to an end when her eyes locked with those of the Titan. It stared at her for a moment blankly, as if savoring the fact that it was about to kill her, before reaching for her. Just as its large hand was about to grab her skull, the Titan shuddered violently and ceased moving. Tears still pouring down her face the woman frowned at the non-moving Titan. Before she could think to run away from it she saw a large, scaled hand with three fingers and a thumb grab ahold of the Titan's head and pull the monster away with force.

For a few seconds the woman actually thought she was hallucinating or that she'd been killed, but then she saw the top of what looked like some kind of reptile walk past where the Titan had been. Running back around the corner and to the alley entrance she frantically looked left and right. There! Down the road a ways she saw something large and green going down another street, though she only caught a glimpse of a long, thin tail that grazed the front of a building. The damage was more superficial than anything, but after seeing the Titan get dragged away she was sure whatever she'd just seen could have done much worse if it wanted.

"Thank you." She whispered before heading at a light pace towards the Inner Wall.

Elsewhere a large group were running in terror from two Titans that began to close the distance at a fast pace. The group consisted of a husband and wife, along with their infant, a young boy, a teenage girl, and an older man. The group had ended up tagging along together in order to escape from the Titans, but it looked like they would be added to the casualties today.

"It's just a few more blocks! If we can make it to the Wall then we'll be able to board a transport boat! Just keep running!" The older man yelled. He didn't dare look behind him to see how close the Titans were. However, even though he couldn't see them he could feel and hear the stomps made as the Titans advanced closer and closer.

The young boy was trying his hardest to keep up with the group, but his stamina was pitiful and his smaller body couldn't match their pace. He slowly found himself at the back of the group, sweet mixing with tears upon his cheeks. He knew he was going to die, perhaps the rest of the group would get away, but he would not be able to outrun the Titans. His tears intensified at the thought, scared of dying without seeing his mother and father one last time. Before he could fall to his knees in exhaustion however, he was scooped up into the arms of the teenage girl.

"We're not gonna die that easy!" With adrenaline filled strength the teen tossed the younger child onto her back, holding him up by his legs while he wrapped his arms around her neck. "Hold on with all you have and don't let go no matter what! Understand?"

"Y-Yeah, I got it!" The boy tightened his arms to just before the point of choking her, burying his face into her brunette hair in an effort to stem his tears.

Although the two Titans behind them continued to gain ground, there was an intersection ahead that would allow them to change their direction and hopefully slow their chasers down. Unfortunately all hope of escape left the group when a third Titan appeared from around the corner, stumbling towards them at a quick walk. Everyone stopped immediately, looking back and forth in desperation, as if somehow they would be able to locate some other path away from the monsters. No one made a sound, save for the crying infant held by the couple, as the Titans closed in. Falling to her knees in agony the woman holding her child cried out in despair.

"I love you so much Atticus, please know that mommy loves you when we meet in heaven." She kissed her baby on the cheek and closed her eyes, more tears leaking onto her face when her husband, Jaden, held her close.

"It's going to be ok Alexis. No matter what happens we'll have each other." Prepared to meet death everyone in the group looked at either the ground or the sky, praying that their end would be quick.

 **'Hrrrraaaaa'** , Zilla appeared atop a row of buildings, which nearly buckled under his weight. Seeing another intruder he leapt onto the single Titan that had been closing in on the humans. Both monsters crashed to the ground, but Zilla gave the Titan no chance to fight back. Having landed with the Titan facing him Zilla latched onto its throat and began to violently shake it. A horrendous tearing sound flooded the area as everything from the neck down went crashing into a building while the head and throat were still gripped in Zilla's teeth. Spitting it out Zilla turned around and locked eyes on the other two Titans that continued to approach the group of humans.

Sprinting forward Zilla took a powerful leap into the air. The mutant soared over the terrified humans, easily landing on the other side of them and continuing his run. Zilla charged full speed into the Titan nearest him, head-butting it in the chest hard enough to send it nearly 200 yards away. The other Titan was grabbed by the face and shoved into the ground hard. Before it had a chance to stand up Zilla raked his claws through the nape of its neck killing it with ease. Returning his focus on the Titan he'd sent flying Zilla closed the distance between them quickly. The Titan was standing once more, but it didn't get a chance to defend itself as Zilla slashed it across the face so hard he decapitated it.

Zilla huffed to himself in satisfaction before walking back to the group of humans. They all flinched away in fear, thinking that Zilla had killed the Titans so he himself could have a meal. When nothing happened for several moments they all opened their eyes to the sight of Zilla just staring at them. The mutant leaned his head down close, startling them greatly, and began to sniff at them. A curious tilt of the head and a light groan followed this, confusing the humans just feet from his snout. What they didn't know was that Zilla was trying to figure out why he felt such fear from them. He had eliminated the threat of the Invaders, so why did they continue to be afraid? Perhaps it was his size that upset them, since he was just as large as the Invaders, or perhaps humans other than Parent were just naturally fearful?

Either way he didn't dwell on the idea long. Standing up to his full height Zilla sniffed the air a few times, looking around him at the distant forms of Titans walking around. There were a lot, and more kept coming, but he would kill as many as possible. Leaping to the rooftops Zilla crossed over to the next street. As luck would have it when he landed his right foot crushed a 3 meter Titan into paste. Running in his direction was another 3 meter, this one flailing its arms wildly, mouth grinning like it was having just the greatest time ever. Leaning down and tilting his head sideways Zilla opened his mouth wide, scooping up the humanoid monster. Standing back up he effortlessly bit through the Titan, its head falling to the ground and leaving a small crater.

Opening his mouth again Zilla let the rest of the body drop out. While he was large enough to eat the small Titan he didn't like the way it tasted on his tongue, so he would happily stick with fish or insects for now. Though, as large as he was insects did nothing to satisfy his hunger anymore. Thoughts of food aside, Zilla ran down the street towards the scent of more Invaders. While he could smell many of the Large Ones, his deeper instincts alerted him to something akin to an Alpha nearby. The Large Ones were potentially dangerous if he was careless, if there was some kind of Alpha amongst them it would have to be killed as soon as possible.

He would _not_ let territory be taken over if he could help it.

 **At the Wall**

Soldiers swore harshly as they fired off the cannons at any and all incoming Titans. Despite knowing that it wasn't killing them, only slowing them down, they still did their best to fight. Civilians continued to run through the checkpoint to the other side of the Wall, hoping to grab a spot on one of the transports. So far they'd had a fair amount come, but it was still smaller than what they were wishing for. It was foolish to believe that everybody that lived in Shiganshina would live, but it still hit the men and women of the Garrison hard to see this crisis happening. Yes, they'd been trained for this, but the difference between training and the real thing was very vast. Especially since humanity had lived for a century in peace within their Walls.

"Don't look back! Think about living past this day!" One such soldier that vowed to save as many as possible was Terry, who shoved a father and son duo towards the gate. Keeping his eyes locked on an approaching 5 meter Titan, he waved his hand to the left. "Now Kevin, take it out!"

Its attention focused on Terry and the escaping humans the Titan was cut down pathetically easy by Kevin, the second member of the _Power Trio_ as he, Terry, and Scott were known throughout the Garrison. Scott himself had just killed a 15 meter Titan before it could swipe an elderly woman. The three men had situated themselves ahead of the line of cannons in order to take down any Titans that were not hit by the artillery. While dangerous if a stray shot came near them, they deemed it necessary in order to increase the number of survivors. Their lives would be a small price to pay if even _one_ person lived another day.

In the corner of the men's eyes they save another group running to the gate. This one even had another Garrison soldier amongst them, Hannes if they remembered right. He was carrying an injured woman that had some serious damage done to her legs. Along with the woman were three young children, two with black hair and one with blonde, all looking ready to collapse from exhaustion any second now. Lucky for them that they'd made it to the gate, otherwise any stray Titan would pick them off with ease.

The group ran past the cannons and under the gate just as another volley of artillery was fired away. Hannes collapsed to his knees, inhaling gulps of air in an effort to stop the burning in his lungs. Luckily he managed to keep Carla in his grip, though the light jostling when he dropped did aggravate her injured legs. Eren, Mikasa, and Armin all were bent down, hands on their knees, breathing even heavier than him. Everyone was a bit worse for wear, but they'd finally made it to safety.

Looking back behind him at the soldiers manning the cannons Hannes' brow narrowed for a moment. After taking a few seconds to think over the situation he nodded to himself. "Alright, this is as far as I can go guys." His four companions looked at him in confusion. He, however, was still watching his fellow soldiers. "You three have to take Carla to a transport. I'd go with you, but every extra hand counts right now."

Eren, knowing that he'd said some rather rude things to Hannes earlier that day, look ready to grab hold of the man. "But…you could die! If you come with us then at least you can live to fight another day!"

Hannes turned his gaze to the young boy, shaking his head while gently setting Carla down. "Yeah, but right now it's more important for you all to live. I'm a soldier, I chose this life and this line of work. I knew the dangers, however small a chance they would be. If I die, it'll suck, but I'll die happy knowing that for once I was able to actually do something right, instead of just standing around drinking all day." Just as he stood back up Eren grabbed his arm harshly.

"I'm sorry damn it! Those things I said to you, I was angry ok! Just because I got mad doesn't mean I want you to die! Humanity can regroup and we can fight them another day when we're stronger!" Eren felt incredibly guilty over the situation. Yes, he wasn't responsible for the Titans breaking through the Wall, but he didn't want a friend of his family to be needlessly killed after the things he'd said. It made him feel….dirty almost.

Hannes stared him down silently, the look in his eyes almost searching, before the man placed two fingers over Eren's heart. "Kid, never lose this if you can help it. Your mom and dad obviously raised you right, and your fighting spirit is inspiring really. But now I need you to do something for me."

Eren let go of Hannes' arm, confused by what he could possibly do to help the man. Hannes saw the small doubt on Eren's face and smirked. "You gotta take care of Carla here. You and Mikasa have to look out for her while I hold the fort, so to speak." Not allowing the boy to attempt to start another argument Hannes turned and ran towards the line of Garrison troops.

Eren was about to chase after the man, but was held in place by Mikasa. Just as he was about to yell at her to let him go he caught sight of the look in her eyes. He wanted to shove her away and argue, but he knew that his sister was just as stubborn as he was, if not more. "Alright, help me out Mikasa." Going to his mother's left side he threw her arm of his shoulder. Mikasa did the same on the other side, using all her strength to lift Carla up. Together they managed to pull their mother along, and though she whimpered in pain they did not stop. They knew that the only way to get her help was by getting to a safe place.

Armin followed them quietly, but not before giving one last look at Shiganshina. Zilla was nowhere in sight and the battle wasn't looking well for the Garrison. The cannons were taking down a Titan here and there with a lucky shot, but for the most part each fired cannonball would knock the Titan down and moments later it would get back up. Gritting his teeth in frustration Armin ran after his friends when they called his name. He hoped Zilla was alright.

Then things turned bad.

While it had looked like a losing battle the Garrison soldiers were doing their damnedest to salvage the situation. Orders were to keep the gate open until it became hazardous to those in Wall Maria to do so. So far they'd been alright, but a few cowardly troops had turned tail and ran for it when it started becoming obvious that they were only stalling and would not be able to win against the Titans. Then, they saw _it_.

It was definitely a Titan, but it looked very bizarre. Most of the things skin looked like armor instead of actual skin, and it had glowing yellow eyes. Each step it took left a forceful impact felt like tremors of a minor earthquake. It looked right at them after it entered their line of sight and took a runner's stance. The men and women looking after the gate watched in pure horror as the vicious looking Titan almost flew from its spot, charging at them faster than any Titan recorded by the military yet.

"Fire the fucking cannons!" Terry screamed at his troops, already activating his 3D Maneuver Gear in the direction of the running Titan. Scott and Kevin followed after him, instantly recognizing the danger this Titan posed.

The cannons were fired, but unlike when the artillery hit before, this Titan shrugged off each cannonball like it was a leaf in the breeze. Seeing that their attack did nothing most of the troops manning the gate high-tailed it to the other side of the Wall. This was an obvious situation that called for closing the gate, despite knowing it would damn everyone left on the other side.

Ignoring everything in its path, other Titans included, the Armored Titan continued its sprint towards the, now closing, gate. It knew what it had to do, and one way or another it would accomplish the mission. Unfortunately it was at that moment that Zilla leapt from a rooftop onto the Armored Titan, sending them both to the ground. Momentarily stunned from the impact and sudden stop, the Titan looked up confused at Zilla, unsure what the hell was on top of him.

Zilla had no such problems and instantly tried to swipe his claws through the Titan's throat. Reiner, unknown to any that he was the Armored Titan, snapped back into focus just in time to block the attack with his left forearm. Using the other arm he struck Zilla across the face hard enough to make the beast stumble off of him. Standing up and finally getting a chance to look at whatever it was that stopped him. The 15 meter tall lizard-like thing that stood opposite him was stranger than anything he'd seen before, but strangeness aside, it was standing in his way and if he had to kill it to accomplish his mission then he would have no problems doing so.

Zilla had finally found the Alpha amongst the Large Ones that were invading. Everything about the Large One he faced set off his instincts like nothing before. While he'd fought those three humans when he was an infant, and today had fought many Large Ones, none of them had given him a feeling like this one. It was a step above everything else he'd come across so far, and that meant it had to die. It was a danger to the territory and to Parent. The other humans were also in danger of course, but for now Zilla did not consider any human other than Parent to be part of the _Nest_.

Each one growling at the other the two monsters charged one another ready to fight till they breathed no more.


	5. Forged In Flame

The muscular fist of the Armored Titan struck Zilla in the jaw hard enough to make the mutant stumble back. When the Titan tried a second punch to Zilla's face the lizard clamped his jaws down on the limb. The Armored Titan was jerked forward allowing Zilla to swipe his claws down its chest. However, instead of tearing through flesh like every Titan so far, his claws merely left scratch marks from chest to stomach. Momentarily confused by his attack not doing anything like before Zilla was struck twice in the chest in quick succession.

The two strikes caused him to open his jaws, letting go of Reiner's arm, and taking a step back. Zilla had little time to recover as Reiner slugged him in the face, one punch to both sides, before grabbing hold of the mutant by the scutes above his shoulders and slammed him into a home. Not giving Zilla a chance to fight back Reiner pulled the lizard back and slammed him into the semi-demolished home again, before repeating the process three more times. Finally fed up, Reiner pulled Zilla back, ready to toss him away, only for the mutant to push against Reiner hard. Having a moment to get his footing back Zilla shoved Reiner off him.

With Reiner finally off of him Zilla whipped his tail into Reiner's legs, taking the Titan to the ground in surprise. Angered, Zilla pounced upon the Titan and furiously swiped his claws over the Titan's face and chest. Just like last time his attacks did nothing to penetrate the armored skin of Reiner's Titan form. Zilla was about to try another flurry with his claws, but Reiner swung his left fist into Zilla's face once more, causing the mutant to move away for a moment. Getting back to his feet quickly Reiner tackled Zilla into a home, the structure giving way easily from their weight and force. Instead of trying more punches against the reptile, Reiner stood up and grabbed ahold of Zilla's tail in a firm grip.

Using his immense strength Reiner lifted Zilla by his tail and slammed him into the ground on the other side of the street with the ease of lifting a sack of potatoes. Not content to let go just yet the Titan repeated the process, slamming Zilla into the remains of the collapsed home again, then doing it once more. After the three powerful slams Reiner swung his body, armored hands still holding onto Zilla by the tail, and tossed the mutant away like a bag of trash. Zilla roared as he was sent flying before hitting the ground hard and rolling several times, going into a few houses rather painfully. The dust kicked up surrounded him and the immediate area from sight.

Reiner steadily walked towards where he'd tossed Zilla. He was angry right now, so much so that he didn't care that he had a mission to complete. Busting a hole to Maria could wait until this damn monster was either dead or injured enough that it couldn't interfere anymore. Within moments he'd closed the distance and when the dust finally cleared his eyes searched for the beast. To his shock the creature was gone, and the area was slightly sunk in as well, almost as if…oh no.

The ground beneath him shook for a moment before collapsing into a sinkhole. Reiner, taken by surprise, could do nothing to keep himself from falling down with the dirt into the chasm. He didn't fall _too_ far, the top of his head was now even with the ground, but getting out would take precious time away that were better spent looking for the mutant. Gripping the edge of the hole, Reiner used his significant strength to push his Titan body upwards. He managed to pull himself halfway out when a set of sharp teeth dug painfully into the back of his neck, hoisting him the rest of the way out and away several meters. No! He wouldn't let this happen! Reiner began furiously struggling against Zilla's hold, trying to shake him off with a sense of urgency. Every minute spent trying to kill this creature meant that he was that much farther from completing his goal.

Balling his right hand into a tight fist Reiner slammed it in the general area of the nape, and was rewarded by the sound of a meaty _thump_. Drawing his fist back Reiner repeated the motion five more times before Zilla finally unclamped his jaws and staggered back. Reiner didn't give the beast a chance to recover. He surged forward and struck Zilla's left cheek, then the right, then left again. Each strike forced Zilla to give ground, the mutant attempting to figure something out, but being so disorientated made that difficult. The next punch was a vicious uppercut that nearly knocked Zilla off his feet. Reiner finished his assault with a strong kick to Zilla's chin, this time taking the iguana off the ground from the force of the attack.

Twenty meters away Zilla landed back-first harshly. He groaned quietly, his skull in much pain from all the attacks he'd endured so far. When he attempted to get up Reiner stomped his foot down upon Zilla's chest, preventing him from moving anywhere. Time froze as the two monsters looked each other in the eye, one set of eyes filled with murder, the other with defiance. Reiner had had enough. He placed one hand on Zilla's jaw, the other on his skull, and started to turn the mutant's head. He wanted to snap Zilla's neck, a quick death to be sure, but in that one second before death it would be quite painful.

Zilla grabbed hold of Reiner's arms quickly. Pulling with all his might he tried to fight against Reiner, but between the two, Reiner was the stronger. Zilla was no slouch in the strength department, but his true skill lied in speed and intelligence. As the seconds passed Zilla felt his arms growing weaker. His struggle to keep himself from dying was becoming harder and harder. No, this wasn't what was supposed to happen. Parent had commanded him to protect the territory and save humans. He couldn't fail. He _wouldn't_ fail!

A sudden feeling began to stir within his chest. The horrible thought that if he were killed here that Parent may be consumed by one of the Large Ones entered his mind. He couldn't let that happen. Arms visibly shaking Zilla very slowly began to push Reiner's arms back. In response Reiner put more pressure on the mutant's chest with his foot. Zilla cried out once more, but did his best to keep pushing the powerful arms away from himself. Reiner, however, was done playing with this creature.

Pulling back hard he ripped his arms out of the lizards grip, and with terrible speed struck it in the face again. With the monster disorientated again Reiner grabbed hold of its tail and tossed it towards the checkpoint that was his original target. The soldiers that had opted to stay and help get more survivors to safety braced for impact, thinking that the large lizard was going to unintentionally crush them. Zilla hit the ground and rolled several times, heading straight for the remaining Garrison and some just arrived civilians. With one last roll Zilla's arm came down, throwing up a cloud of dust that started several coughing fits.

Destiny was on the side of Humanity, however, as the mutant's arm had fallen just 50 feet short of crushing the cannons and the troops manning them. For just a single moment all the sounds of battle, the sounds of death, had stopped. Groaning, Zilla opened his eyes. His orange orbs blinked twice before his senses were back. His left eye gazed over all the shocked humans. A few of them grabbed at their blades, but none were drawn yet. With a bit of effort Zilla pushed his upper body off the ground and regained his footing. The humans all backed away, fearing the reptile would attack. Zilla had no such plans however.

Hearing the Alpha coming Zilla steeled his resolve and stepped away from the small humans. He didn't want to accidently step on one of them while he fought the Large One. To his left were three humans atop a building, each with that device that allowed them to fly about. He could smell apprehension and a small amount of fear from them. Again, these humans feared him when he'd done nothing to elicit such emotion. Parent wanted them safe however, so he would do his best. Stragglers appeared from various alleys or smaller roads that intersected with this main path, and many froze upon seeing Zilla's form.

The mutant ignored them however, keeping his eyes in the direction he could smell the tough Large One he'd been fighting. Seeing that the lizard was ignoring them the civilians cautiously ran towards the still open Gate. How long that Gate would remain open was unknown. The Garrison had started closing it when the Armored Titan appeared, but they'd held off fully blocking the archway while Zilla was fighting with the Titan. For now the humans figured that so long as the Terry, Scott, and Kevin took care of the small fry they could afford to wait out for more Shiganshina citizens.

Hannes was one of the many soldiers that still stood firm at the Gate, determined to do his duty for once. Having watched Zilla fight the Armored Titan, the alcoholic believed they might have a chance. They just had to hold out a while longer. "Listen everybody." The men and women around him turned his direction, wondering what the man was going to say. "That creature is buying us valuable time, so we need to use it to the best of our ability. I don't care if you're terrified and one second from pissing your pants, we'll hold this line until we're certain everyone's made it to safety. If not everyone, then at least as many as possible! Today we fight for all those that have died and those who continue to live! Long live Humanity!" He finished his improvised speech with a raised blade.

"Long live Humanity!" Each Garrison soldier cried in return, their spirits lifted somewhat by Hannes' passion. Turning back to the town they kept their eyes peeled for anymore Titans. They knew that with the Wall having been breached they would continue to appear, but for now it seemed that they were all in other places. Perhaps, if the gods were merciful, the large reptile had killed enough of the mindless Titans to allow a sizeable portion of people to get to the Gate. Not everyone would live, but perhaps when this day was over there would be fewer that would shed tears.

Stomping into sight ahead the Armored Titan appeared again. While you couldn't tell it from his non-moving facial expression, the Shifter was fuming inside. This was supposed to be an easy mission; one that would have required only a bit of effort to accomplish. Instead an unknown number of Titans had been killed by this fucking animal, whom also was doing its damnedest to keep Reiner from breaching Wall Maria. Reiner had rewarded the creature with a very physical beatdown, and before night arrived he would kill it as well. In fact, right now seemed like a great time to finally deal with the thing. Even from a distance he could tell it was injured. Nothing life-threatening most likely, but enough that any struggle it would put up would be significantly less than earlier. Crouching down once more Reiner surged forward, intent of going through the creature, and just for his own pleasure, tackling it right through the Gate.

Zilla slowly stood to his full height, eyes narrowing, watching the Alpha charge him. This enemy had overpowered him, harmed him, and tried to kill him. The mutant had tried his claws, and they had failed. He tried his teeth, and while they worked, he was not strong enough, yet, to keep a good grip. What did it take to kill this thing? His gaze fell to the ground, claws curling into fists without realizing it, jaw beginning to clench tightly. He felt a horrible combination of desperation and severe anger, however the desperation was being consumed more and more by his anger. He had to kill this Alpha. He had to keep Parent safe!

 _Flashback_

 _Armin raised his hands to get Zilla's attention, said lizard eyeing the raccoon that was still in the tree. "Ok, let's practice what we've been working on." He put his hands in the air as high as they could go. "Up." Zilla responded to the command, adjusting his body from a horizontal position to a more upright one. His tail rested on the ground now and his neck craned slightly so he could see down at Armin. While he was tall before, now the changed in posture gave him another foot-and-a-half over the human._

 _With an approving nod Armin brought his hands low. "Down." Zilla lowered his body until it completely rested on the ground. His knee and hip joints rotating to allow the lizard's body to adjust in such a way, while his shins, ankles, and feet remained as they were. Truly, Armin believed, whatever wonder allowed this creature to develop such physiology that was functional and gave Zilla a large deal of grace and agility, it was amazing to say the least. Of course Armin had no idea that Zilla's body structure was not natural at all, but such mysteries didn't hold his focus for too long._

 _"Stand." Zilla rose to his normal height and posture. "Back up, back up." Two steps backwards resulted in a smile. Reaching into his bag Armin pulled out a rather sturdy looking stick he'd found yesterday during their playtime. "Ok, just like before. Fetch!" The boy tossed the stick as hard as he could. His iguana friend rushed after it with long strides of its nimble legs. Instead of picking it up with his mouth however, Zilla grabbed it in one of his clawed hands. "Now, bring it back." His return wasn't as fast this time, but he came straight back to Armin and dropped the stick at the boy's feet. "Great job boy!"_

 _End Flashback_

NO! He wouldn't let Parent get harmed! His breathing picked up, his anger so great it was almost like he was going to hyperventilate. Reiner was so close now, and against their instincts that were screaming at them to run the Garrison stood firm, many accepting that they were going to die. Closer and closer, this was it!

Zilla raised his head, pupils dilated from the animalistic rage flowing through him. " **HRRRRAAAAA** ", and in that moment things changed. The Garrison watched as the scutes along Zilla's tail and back lit up, and pale blue color traveling up and disappearing. The mutant's eyes faded into a neon green glow, and suddenly Reiner was consumed in fire of the same color. The Shifter screamed in agony, having stumbled to a stop the second the flames touched him. Zilla moved closer, keeping up the stream of green fire for almost ten second before his mouth closed and the attack stopped.

Where before Reiner's body was covered in a tough, armored exterior, now everything from his shins up looked like melted plastic. His attempt to protect himself with raised arms did nothing, and his right arm was missing from the elbow down. The fact that all his hair was also gone would've been funny if he hadn't just been about to kill a lot of people. Zilla gave Reiner no chance to counter-attack. Turning his body Zilla slammed his tail into Reiner's weakened body with such force that his body separated into two. Everything above his ribs went flying, while everything below them stood still for a moment before falling to the ground. Wasting no time Zilla limped over to what was left of Reiner, the Shifter himself was in too much pain to even attempt leaving his Titan shell.

Their eyes met and for a moment it seemed like time stopped. Monster eyed monster. It was something that a storyteller would write about. Both were the way they were because of Humanity's mistakes. The serum that turned things into monsters, created by Humanity so long ago, had unintentionally brought two of its 'children' together. A Titan Shifter and a Kaiju, as people would later call Zilla and his kind. Both monsters: One by choice, one by chance. Both had the intelligence and awareness to do what they wished, and ironically an animal had more compassion within it than a human did, because it chose to do so. It chose to protect Parent, by instinct and by love.

Such ideas would not be known to the world for many years however. For now, people just saw two monsters. In time, however, perhaps Humanity would learn.

Zilla raised his foot and smashed Reiner's head in. Weakened from the Atomic Breath his Shifter body offered no resistance, being crushed into a gory mess that instantly ceased further movement from the remains. The humans stared wide-eyed and fearful. While they were now safe from the obviously dangerous Titan, now a fire-breathing lizard could, if it wanted, wipe them out and they would most likely be powerless to stop it. When said reptile turned his head to look back in their direction everyone tensed, a few even gritting their teeth hard enough to make noise. Zilla huffed a bit of smoke out of his nostrils, irritated that the feeling of fear was still in the air. Oh well, he could do nothing to change it. Now to find Parent. He'd saved many of the humans, so perhaps now they could save some of their own instead of being frozen in fear. Ah, and the instincts come to the fore again.

He knew Parent was on the other side of the large structure, and there was an opening large enough for him to get through, so that was where he would go. Of course, as fate would have it he took three steps before his body finally gave in from the tough fight. Zilla toppled over unceremoniously, unconscious before he'd even his the ground. He breathed deeply, his body tired and in need of healing. He'd never been physically pushed like he was today, and while the Serum gave him a healing factor, it didn't take away his need to get rest.

Everybody was silent, eyes locked on the form that just moments ago had fallen. They knew the creature wasn't dead, the rise and fall of its chest was proof, but after all the shit that had happened today they really had no idea what to do. No actions or words to describe the craziness of this day.

"Holy. Fuck." Well, apparently one guy had the words.

Terry snapped himself back into reality thanks to the nameless soldier that broke the silence. "Stop fucking staring at the thing and get back to doing what you're supposed to do! If you have Omni-Directional Gear then go look for survivors!" A few of the troops fell on their asses his outburst was so startling, but nonetheless they got in motion and followed what he said. He _was_ the highest rankest soldier of course, but they also didn't want him to kick their ass later for not doing what he said.

 **So as you all saw, Zilla killed Reiner. While Zilla won, it wasn't an overpowered/plot armor victory. From the start I wanted Zilla to get his ass handed to him in almost every way. It shows his inexperience, it shows that he is still growing, and it shows that when his opponent can fight back he'll have to work for his win. Example that will come up later: When the military and he have a confrontation. Fighting him will be tougher than fighting Titans, and they'll learn that he isn't going to die with a sword to the neck, BUT, Zilla isn't going to completely embarrass Humanity either. Both sides will show their strengths and weaknesses, and whomever wins, as I haven't decided, will have to earn it.**

 **Oh, and yes Potato: Hange will do everything in her power to either study or capture Zilla. He obviously won't take it quietly, so if she somewhere down the line runs into him she's going to be her regular crazy self we all love and fear. As for traveling under Walls, hmmm, iguanas like digging after all.**


	6. What A Day

**I'd like to apologize for the wait on this chapter. I've been busy with work, and I've also been having problems with my depression and have been drinking a lot more lately. It's made writing hard. Please forgive the lateness.**

 **On another note this chapter ends the** _ **Origins Arc**_ **. So far we've met Zilla, Quetzalcoatl, and the Giant Bat. Expect more to come in the next arc,** _ **Gateways**_ **, where we'll meet someone that Armin begins to bond with that will change things up later. Also, we'll see more of how the military and government handle giant monsters that start to appear, as well as how Eren and Mikasa turn out for the better with Carla still alive.**

The chaos going on within Wall Maria was not near what those still in Shiganshina were facing, but with people refusing to calm down from their panic, and little to no information on whether the Titans were being held back or not, the scene around a certain group of people was dreadful. Carla, Eren, Mikasa, and Armin had bundled together in a corner, doing their best to ignore everyone else. It wasn't that they didn't care or sympathize with people fleeing the district alongside them, but at the moment they were too exhausted to do much of anything.

It had been three hours since the small group had been placed on a transport, and said transport began moving away from Shiganshina. However, for Carla those three hours felt like three years. Everything from her femurs and below was in constant, agonizing pain. Each time the woman tried to get some rest the transport jostled her body just enough for every nerve-ending to feel like it was on fire, waking Carla from whatever pitiful sleep she'd managed. As it was, just two minutes ago the situation repeated itself and Mrs. Jaeger woke to fire in her legs once more.

"Mom, is there anything we can do?" Eren wasn't crying, really he wasn't, but his eyes filled with mist each time his mother was awoken. Mikasa sat next to him, silent, but her face conveyed more than words could.

The smile Carla tried giving to her children was more a pained grimace. "This is enough for now Eren. Really all I would like is to sleep without the constant interruptions." Her gaze switched to a pillow under her knees that a fellow passenger had given her upon seeing how injured she was. "Mikasa, could you adjust the pillow for me dear?"

"Ok." Her response was near inaudible to the other three. While she was normally somewhat reserved Mikasa was noticeably behaving different since they'd escaped from the Smiling Titan. There was also another thing that Carla had noticed from her adopted daughter.

The injured woman frowned just a bit at Mikasa, not out of scorn, but out of concern. "Honey, what's wrong. Please, tell," She paused and bit back a cry of pain as Mikasa adjusted the pillow like she asked. "Tell me what's bothering you."

Mikasa's hands, which had begun to tremble while fluffing her mother's pillow, froze in an instant. Her head tilted down, letting her hair fall around her face like a curtain, temporarily blocking her from sight. Slowly she placed her right hand into Carla's left one, griping it tightly, before lifting her head and making eye contact with the woman. Small tears had formed in the corner of both eyes, but Mikasa used every ounce of willpower to keep them from trailing down her skin. "I've already lost one mother. Today I came close to losing you. It…..and now, you're alive, but you're hurt really bad too! I…..I couldn't do anything. Not then, and not now. I feel so…..powerless mom."

Carla held her daughter's gaze for several seconds, an unreadable expression on her face, before she shook her head. "Mikasa…don't feel that you have to take blame over what the Titans did. There's nothing you could have done to prevent what happened. In fact, if you were there with me, you might have been injured also, or worse, killed." Tugging her hand lightly, Carla coaxed Mikasa into her side. She wrapped her arm around the child and smiled lovingly. "I also think that you're as far from powerless as can be. Despite knowing the Wall was breached you and Eren came looking for me, even though you could've been killed before reaching the house. As far as I'm concerned Mikasa, that makes you the bravest little girl I know."

Mikasa finally let the tears that had pooled in her eyes fall upon her cheeks. Burying her face into her mother's shoulder muffled the quiet sobs somewhat, as she felt embarrassed for breaking down, but when Carla planted a small kiss into her hair all feelings of embarrassment disappeared. There was truly no reason to feel that way as deep down she knew her mother would not be disappointed in her over being emotional. So she let out the agony she felt while basking in the affection Carla gave in return.

The Jaeger Matriarch would have said more had she not felt someone snuggle into her other side. Turning her head Carla's eyes met her son's own, glistening with just the barest hint of tears, before the boy laid his head down on her shoulder just like his sister. Carla tightened her grip around both her children, holding them close as if the world would snatch them away at any moment. A kiss was given to Eren as well before she whispered, "I love both of you very much. Never forget that, and don't ever feel like you failed me in any way."

After a few moments where it felt like the small family were the only ones in the world, Carla turned her gaze to Armin, who had been respectfully quiet and allowed the three to have their time. "I also wish to tell you thank you once more Armin. You saved me from being eaten." Her smile, though small thanks to the pain she was feeling, was just like all the others he'd seen whenever he happened to visit the Jaeger home.

Armin's cheeks warmed as a light blush turned the skin rosy. "Ah, Mrs. Jaeger I didn't really do anything. It was Zilla that pulled the rubble off you."

Carla nodded slightly, but her smile remained. "Yes, but had you not been there he might have completely passed me by and only focused on the Titans. So thank you young man. I know that you have your grandfather taking care of you, but should you ever need anything I will do everything in my power to help you."

Now his cheeks lit up like the fire on a match, which he did his best to hide with the sleeve of his shirt. "I….thank you very much Mrs. Jaeger. I appreciate that."

"However," Carla's smile disappeared as she looked at all the people around them. They'd been given a fair amount of space when everyone saw the condition she was in, so she didn't have to worry about eavesdroppers. "I think it would be best to keep the fact that the creature listened to you, and seems to hold some kind of bond with you, a secret from the rest of the population."

Armin's smile also dropped, but out of confusion instead of whatever Carla felt at the moment. "But….why? He saved us and he took down the Titans like I asked him."

"Because Humanity fears things they don't understand Armin. Yes, he attacked and killed Titans, but only those that he saved will know that. Others, those that live within the three Walls, will be less inclined to believe a large animal like Zilla would do something. To them, they'll only see the monster he resembles."

Armin looked down at his knees quietly. He hadn't thought of such a thing before, which made him feel stupid since his reaction upon first meeting Zilla was much the same. There was no telling what a large population of people would do in response to the large mutant.

"There is another issue as well." He looked up to Carla again. This time her expression was grim. "The government…I fear that they would take you away if they learned you were connected with Zilla. The Royal Family is…different…about things within the kingdom than the rest of us."

"I…..alright Mrs. Jaeger, I'll stay quiet about what happened."

"Good." Carla nodded in relief, then with her smile returned she motioned for him to move closer to her and her children. While she couldn't hug him, as Eren and Mikasa had fallen asleep from the stress of the long day, she wanted him to feel like he was just as important to her as her family. She had always had a soft spot for the boy, as his kind and shy behavior just brought her smiles every time she visited. Now, however, she felt like he could be thought of as a surrogate son. Carla would never try to take him away from his grandfather, but the woman knew she would protect him from harm fiercely. It was the least she could do in return for him playing a part in saving her life.

"Once our transport arrives at the safety zone we'll find somewhere safe to hunker down until I can see a doctor. After that," Carla turned her gaze in the direction of Shiganshina. "No idea what will happen…Grisha…will you return safe to us?"

 **Shiganshina**

With a groan Zilla opened his eyes and began sitting up. To his instant irritation a 5 meter Titan was walking towards his face, but seemed to not really register that the mutant was in front of it. A slam of his hand crushed the Titan, but did little for his mood. Moving into a more comfortable position, almost a three-point stance, Zilla started sniffing the air for signs of life. While he could smell the lingering scent of humans, which was stronger on the other side of the barricade he'd protected, he was unable to smell any living ones in the area. Either they'd all fled or they'd been killed.

Knowing the humans were no longer around Zilla turned to the wall, seeing that the opening from before was now closed. So the Large Ones couldn't get to Parent, or other humans, now. However, turning to the hole where the Large Ones had invaded, his superior eyesight allowed him to see it was still there. Large Ones of various sizes continued to slowly walk into his territory from outside as well.

That would have to be taken care of now, instead of later. Lifting himself up Zilla began walking towards the breach, not sparing a single glance at any roaming Large Ones unless they happened to cross his path. If they did they were swiftly killed. Within three minutes the mutant reached the opening, and stared another invading Large One down. Inhaling deeply Zilla obliterated the Large One, as well as the two behind it, with his neon green Atomic Breath. Not taking a chance others could be nearing from outside, he turned and started clawing up the dirt below him; the large hunks of earth landing in the hole and within 45 seconds filling it.

Turning to the newly moved dirt Zilla used his Atomic Breath again, but this time tried to lower the force with which it hit. He didn't want to destroy the barrier, instead he wanted to make it meld together and toughen up so that it would withstand attack from intruders beyond the territory. About 20 seconds was all he needed, and when he cut off the stream of fire to his satisfaction the dirt and rock had been melted to the point that once it cooled down and fully solidified it would be a strong barrier like the stone around it.

 _Now, the other Large Ones needed eliminated_ , he thought. While he might not make this area his nesting ground, as he wanted to be near Parent, the intruders had to die so that the territory would be safe for Parent. Plus he supposed the other humans that had been here would want to return also, but Parent took priority. With a roar he charged after the closest Large One, clamping down upon its head and taking it to the ground. Zilla happily tore through the throat, severing the head, before looking for another victim. It may take him some time, but he believed the area would be clear before the sun rose the next day.

 **'Hrrrraaaa'**

 **Outside the Walls**

"Ok! So, I'm pretty sure that Levi isn't going to be very happy with us when we show up late. Any ideas on a good excuse?" A woman with glasses and a very excited face asked her comrade, a young man that looked like he was going to keel over from worry.

"N-no, not a bit ma'am. Just…..the truth….maybe?" He could see that she was plotting, even though she had nodded like she agreed.

"Yes, except, I'm thinking no. It's just not excitable enough. Something big and completely over the top!"

 **CRASH**

An impact to the ground only 40 feet away startled both soldiers and their horses, the animals so much they reared back and sent the humans to the ground in a heap. The dust sent up made the man and woman cough a bit, but that didn't stop the female from jumping to her feet and running towards whatever it was that hit the ground. Her companion was less enthused about the situation.

"Hange wait a, _cough_ , wait a minute! It could be a Titan for all we know!"

Hange waved one of her hands in the air happily, keeping her pace to the impact site. "I know and just _think_ of all the data we could obtain! The sun's almost down, so we could get some good stuff on what happens just before they decide to settle for the night."

"Ah, that's not what I meant."

"Don't be such a sourpuss Moblit. Live a little, otherwise you'll end up like Captain Levi." The man, Moblit, almost tripped upon hearing that, but managed to hold his protests until he'd caught up with his squad leader. Why he ever agreed to join her solo run this day he'd never understand.

When the two finally reached the impact zone they were not met with a Titan. That would have been normal. Instead, what was half-laying, half-standing before them was a…well….a bat. A very _large_ bat. Hange's sharp eyes began taking in lots of details, her mind already filing them into a section she mentally dubbed 'Huge Ass Bat'. Its purple body was about 10 meters tall, maybe 11 or 12, it was hard to determine exactly. The span of the leathery wings looked to be 20 meters, colored almost lavender compared to the darker hue of its body, with a very sharp claw atop each wing. Upon closer inspection she could see that its left wing had a break in the 'arm' area, and the creature was doing what it could to nurse the injury.

When it looked at them with large, yellow eyes the bat's facial expression, which it did have one oddly enough, morphed to an aggressive frown. **'Eeeiiiii'** , the bat hissed at them, clearly not trusting the two small creatures. They looked just like those Things that it saw walking around all the time, and when he'd tried to get some blood from one of them it reacted instantly. Before it had been ignored, but attacking caused the Thing to slam a meaty hand into the bat, who was sent into a large tree branch that broke its wing bone.

The bat was sure that, even injured, it could fight and kill these two small beings easily. One blast of his Sonic Scream would leave them disorientated and unconscious at best, and make their heads explode at worst. When the male of the duo backed away he focused on the female, whom was reaching into something at her side. She pulled out a…..piece of meat? Was this some kind of trick?

Hange kept her composure as she slowly held up a large slice of ham from her satchel. She wasn't afraid of this large animal, after all she played with Titans like they were toys, she was instead afraid that any aggressive movement would cause it to retreat. Plus, if it were to attack then she would most likely have to kill it. Her scientific mind wanted that as the absolute **last** option. While it had been a long time since Hange saw a bat, she _knew_ that no species of bat on Earth grew this large. This creature was worth investigating and she couldn't in good conscience let such an opportunity go.

"It's ok little guy. I'm not going to hurt you. Are you hungry?" Behind her Moblit was almost choking, muttering 'little guy?' to himself in a mixture of fear and disbelief.

The bat keep his eye on the female while inhaling the scent of the meat. Indeed it was food, one he'd never encountered before, but food nonetheless. He turned his body so that he and the female stood fully face-to-face and limped towards her. She also took a step, but another hiss made her stop. Until he knew that he was getting the food he would keep his guard up. Finally standing only a foot from her the bat locked his teeth onto the meat and almost inhaled it he chowed down so fast. The ham was large enough that it would have fed Hange for two meals, but to the monstrous bat it was like eating a Honey Bun. Tastes great, but does nothing to fill you up.

So, while it didn't completely trust them, the bat at least calmed down and left the crouch it had been in since Hange and Moblit approached it. For now it would tolerate them, and perhaps the female had more food or could lead it to more food.

"Hange…..what the hell are we doing? We have to get back to the Walls, so how do you expect to take this thing with us?" Moblit still stood a few feet away, not trusting the obviously abnormal animal to behave.

Hange just waved her hand around in response. "Don't worry so much. Once I explain why and what, Captain Levi and Commander Erwin will help me out. Those two always managed to do things that everyone else can't. Keeping Batty hidden from those who don't need to know about him will be a snap."

"…Batty? That's a terrible name." The man developed a large sweat drop that felt like it would drag him down right then and there.

"What? Hush you, it's a great name. I think he'll grow to love it. Don't you Batty?" Hange reached out and pat the mutant on his flat nose, smiling at him like they were best pals. Batty, in response to her touching his nose, used his Sonic Scream on her head. After several seconds he closed his mouth and observed his handiwork. Amazingly the female was still standing, though her glasses had shattered and blood was slowly falling out of her nose and ears. Plus she was _still smiling_.

The tough human reached into her satchel again and pulled out another pair of glasses. Slipping them on, she pat Batty once more. "Good thing I always have a spare with me. You did pretty well with that weird attack, but you gotta do better to put me down." Batty was so stunned by her shear resilience he didn't bother attacking again for her continuing to touch him.

Moblit facepalmed hard at that point.


	7. Knowledge Is Not Power

**Hey guys. Sorry about the wait on this. As usual I'm pretty loaded down with a 40 hour work week. I'm going to try my best to keep these chapters coming out at least once a month. Would like more, but life ya know? Also I'm going to really put some effort towards not drinking anymore. Lately it's gotten to the point where I've been putting away a bottle of hard liquor every night. So please wish me luck in my attempt to quit.**

 **Anyway, the Gateways Arc is going to be a transition period where we'll see some development, and more ripples from Zilla changing things. Enjoy!**

 **7 Months After Shiganshina Breach**

It had been a little over half a year since the creature dubbed the Colossal Titan had appeared, allowing its brethren to enter the Shiganshina district and begin slaughtering the humans. However, despite the horrific tragedy that befell Humanity, Wall Maria had held and the people still had three large places to live. The influx of refugees from Shiganshina didn't hurt the economic or food supplies of Wall Maria in the slightest. Everyone saw that recovery from the attack would happen with time; that eventually the wound dealt to Humanity would scab over and heal just like new.

True, the lives lost that day could never, would never, be replaced. While flesh was lost, however, the spirit within the people was not dampened. The recruitment numbers for the military had increased 30% in just the first month after the breach. Men and women eager to return the favor to the Titans. Had losses been terribly larger, such as if Maria had been breached also, perhaps such tenacity from the people would not have developed. Those in charge of the three branches saw this as a grand opportunity. Due to the increase in soldiers, whom were willing and determined, discussions had been thrown around about possibly merging the divisions into one large force. That way larger and more skilled groups could be sent outside the Walls, when such operations resumed, and policing inside them could be handled smoother than before. Of course, such talks were being kept secret at the moment. No need to ruffle the wrong feathers just yet.

Then there were the whispers of _him_.

The civilians and soldiers that had seen the beast, and made it to the safety of Wall Maria, had told the story to anyone with an ear. Of the large reptilian creature that killed any Titan that crossed its path, but never once tried to harm or eat any humans. Many passed along tales of first hand encounters, of being on the verge of death, only for this creature to take the Titan down, allowing them to reach safety. And when people were told of how the beast defended the gate that separated Shiganshina from Maria, from a brutal Titan that seemed determined to plow through said gate, it only added to the mystery of things.

What was this creature? Where did it come from? Why did it attack Titans? Where was it now? Questions with no answers left the populous divided. Was it truly friendly towards Humanity, or did it only spare the people because it saw the Titans as a bigger threat? Indeed, many heated debates had taken place in the 7 months since the creature's appearance. Reports from soldiers atop Wall Maria, of occasionally seeing a flash of rock-like scutes traversing between buildings in Shiganshina district put more fuel to the flame. The creature was near, and its intentions, if it had any, were unknown. Nonetheless, some of the higher-ups in the military began to formulate plans to take the animal down. It was only natural, for people always feared the unknown.

It was a good thing Hange currently had Batty housed in an abandoned cathedral close to the Wall. Otherwise it was highly possible the bat would be attacked by members of the Garrison. Of course, we'll be checking up on them in the next chapter.

 **7** **th** **Heaven**

7th Heaven was a quaint little restaurant that served all kinds of wonderful food, and had perhaps the best staff in the district. Meats of all kinds, plus many dishes that involved pastas, vegetables, breads, and other home-styled recipes. It was owned and run by a nice woman named Tifa Lockhart, whom also happened to live in the inn that had been built atop the business. The kind-hearted woman shared the spare rooms that she didn't sleep in with her employees, saying that there was no point in making them live elsewhere when she had the ability to offer them such hospitality.

This is where we find Carla Jaeger.

"Carla, I have your order for table eight. It'll be another two minutes before their potatoes are ready though." Tifa called from behind the bar, placing two plates of food onto the counter before refilling a customer's glass with whiskey.

"Thank you Tifa. They just added a salad to it as well, no dressing." Carla limped to the bar and grabbed the food, pork and vegetables, smiling at her boss and friend. "The lady wanted to know if we can put a little extra carrots in it for her, she said she was willing to pay if it cost more."

Tifa smiled back, waving her hand in the negative. "We have plenty back there. It won't hurt us to use a bit more. Honestly I wouldn't want them to go bad, so if you can try and suggest them to the customers please."

"Yes ma'am."

Taking care not to bump into anyone, this time of the day did get pretty busy, Carla returned to table eight and deposited the meals to the young couple enjoying a date. Their first in fact, from what the girl told Carla while the boy was using the restroom. The woman thought the couple, whom had introduced themselves as Tidus and Yuna, looked rather cute together. When talking with Yuna, Carla hadn't been able to resist a little teasing of the younger woman, telling her that if things between her and Tidus worked out that the children would be quite lovely. That had sent the somewhat shy girl into a frenzy of blushing and stuttering.

The food was set down upon the table, along with silverware, Carla smiling at the duo kindly. "The potatoes will be done in another two minutes or so, and you won't have to pay for the extra carrots on your salad. Is there anything else I can do for you?" Tidus looked at Yuna, who shook her head while grabbing her fork.

"No, we'll be ok for now. You've been really helpful to us, since we didn't really know what to get, so please take this." Tidus held out his hand, three gold coins resting in his palm. They were a little dull, but otherwise in good condition.

A bit wide-eyed, Carla let Tidus drop the money into her hand, awed at the fact that he was tipping her three gold pieces when they weren't even finished eating yet. This was rather nice, as she usually just got tipped a copper or silver coin. It wasn't that she was a bad waitress, but since 7th Heaven was one of the cheaper places to eat and drink people that were not so lucky to have money liked to frequent it. This tip would most definitely help to provide for her and her children. "Th-thank you very much. If you need anything at all, please just flag me down."

With nothing else Carla moved to check on her other tables, making sure that everyone's drinks were filled, asking if they liked how their food was cooked, and other such things. Seeing many of those visiting tonight were in fact couples brought a smile to her face. She was especially fond of how her boss was subtlety flirting with a young blonde man that had been at the bar for the last hour. If the nervous facial expressions on the boy, Cloud she believed his name was, were any indication, he was unused to such behavior. It was adorable, it almost reminded her of-

' _NO. I will NOT think about him.'_

No matter how hard she tried Carla could not get the memory to go away. Even when she had resorted once or twice to drinking it did not make it less painful, less real. That day, 7 months ago, when her husband had returned to her. It should have been something to celebrate about, something to look back upon fondly. Only it had turned into a nightmare.

Just days after the attack upon Shiganshina Grisha had burst into the clinic she and her children were staying at. He'd looked ok, no visible injuries to speak of, and other than his hair being a bit disheveled everything was fine. Except his eyes. The smile upon her lips began to drop when she noticed the look in his eyes as he came closer to her. It was like….he was there but he wasn't. Like he was seeing right through her and just looking at the bed.

Then he began talking about what had happened while he was away. The reveal that he could transform into a Titan, as could the Royal Family, and that he had attacked and killed most of them to obtain something called the Coordinate. Grisha truly seemed like he was passionate in his belief that what he had done, and what he was going to do, were the right thing. Yet, at the same time that look in his eyes ruined any chance for her to believe him. Learning that the Royal Family could control Titans, yet chose to let Humanity suffer for their 'sins' angered her beyond belief, but Carla did not believe slaughtering the children had been necessary. They could have been saved, shown a better world and given a chance to better themselves as they grew. Now that option was lost forever.

Then came the worst part of all. When Grisha told her that Titans were really humans mutated into the giant creatures through a serum created by Humanity ages ago, and that he was going to do the same thing to Eren so as to put the fate of the human race in more capable hands. Carla had lost it then. Yelling at him that he had no right to make such a choice. The injured woman fell out of the bed and started crawling towards him, tears falling down her cheeks, begging him not to continue on his path.

What did Grisha do at this point? He smiled and told her that he loved her with all his heart. Then he turned and slowly walked out of her room, ignoring Carla's cries of despair and anger.

To this day Carla still had nightmares about that day, of the pure _inability_ to stop her husband. He'd gotten his wish unfortunately. Eren had disappeared for several hours after the confrontation with Grisha, only to be found later in the woods confused, tired, and holding a pair of glasses that Carla knew to be Grishas. Her heart broke painfully that day knowing her world as she'd once cherished it was now shattered like glass. Knowing everything she did, however, after she had healed enough to walk Carla vowed to do whatever it took to make sure her son and daughter lived to see old age.

Reaching down to slightly adjust the brace strapped around her left knee, damn thing never wanted to stay put, the Jaeger woman moved to the bar, flagging Tifa over. Her boss gave a few pats on the arm to that same blonde man, who was now smiling just a bit, before moving towards her friend and employee. "Tifa, since it's a little slower than usual would it be alright if I take a break and check on Eren and Mikasa?"

Tifa double-checked the modestly sized room, seeing that a few tables had finished up and left. Along with Carla, one other waitress worked during the midday shift. An energetic girl named Rikku that easily took care of her half of the customers and had not had a single complaint against her. Rikku herself only had two tables at the moment, while Carla was taking care of three. As it had slowed down like Carla mentioned, Tifa saw no reason why she couldn't let the woman check on her kids. Any time before when she let the mother leave she was always back in a reasonable amount of time and got right back into her work without delay.

"No problem at all Carla. Rikku can handle the floor, and since I only have one person at the bar if things get rough I can step up of course." Tifa waved her hand nonchalantly, nodding towards the door with a smile.

"Thank you-"

The ground began to shake lightly, furniture and all the silverware in the room rattling alongside the shakes. The shakes lasted for nearly thirty seconds, feeling almost like a pulse within the earth instead of an uninterrupted shaking. The strangest thing was that the quakes seemed to be moving away instead of just dissipating like a normal earthquake. Tifa, Rikku, and Carla looked around at the customers to make sure everyone was alright before looking up at each other in concern.

"He's been getting restless lately." That was all Carla said before she walked outside, grabbing her cane on the way. She didn't use it while working, since the room wasn't too large, but her doctor had told her that until her bones, muscles, and joints were fully healed she would need to use the cane. Most likely even after her time of healing was finished, such was how bad the damage to her lower body had been. If that was how she had to be for the rest of her life, then so be it. She would take being partially crippled over being dead each and every time.

Before she had finished getting ready for her day that morning, Eren and Mikasa informed her that they planned on meeting up with Armin and roaming around for most of the day. While it wasn't exactly 'dangerous' to go running off by themselves, as there were more than enough Garrison troops keeping the peace, Carla still wanted them to stay within a certain distance of their new home. She tried not to be too obvious about it, but ever since Grisha had fulfilled his demented promise to give Humanity a chance Carla had been a little more protective of her son. She hadn't told him about what his father had done, and for the foreseeable future that choice wouldn't change. Eren need time to grow and develop mentally and emotionally before Carla would drop a bomb like that on him.

Carla finally arrived at one of the local 'hangout' spots that a lot of the children in the area liked. It was really nothing more than a 50'x40' area with large sunflowers as big as her head, and about 6 feet tall. A lot of the kids liked to pretend the sunflowers were the Walls, and the kids themselves were soldiers either training around them or defending them from Titans. Of course there was also a few times that Carla had seen a child or two playing as a 'Big Lizard' and going _rawr_ at the 'Titans'.

Boy could children be adorable without even trying.

Looking around for Eren and Mikasa she eventually spotted them, along with Armin. Instead of playing in the sunflowers, which despite once or twice being caught doing so Mikasa denied every time, the three were sitting on a set of steps nearby that led to a market area. Only…..they weren't alone. Sitting with them was a little blonde haired girl with blue eyes, wearing dirty clothing that had seen better days. Carla had never before seen this child, but whoever she was it seemed that she was getting along with Eren, Mikasa, and Armin.

It looked like the girl was a bit on the shy side, constantly looking down or away with an uncertain expression, but then Eren or Armin would say something and a small smile would appear. Seeing this caused Carla to smile as well. She wouldn't be truthful if she said it didn't concern her that Eren and Mikasa only seemed to ever want to be around Armin. It was one thing for them to be a close-knit group of friends, but Carla thought it a tad unhealthy to have no other friends or playmates their age. Whoever this little blonde girl was, Carla hoped that perhaps she would stay around and be one more person her children could find light in.

 **So this chapter was entirely focused on Carla because I really wanted to get her some development. Seeing that she survived, we all knew that things for others would be different, but for her, knowing some of the things we readers know, Carla had to also be affected in certain ways. Next chapter we'll get to see how our trio of hellions met the blonde girl we all know and love.**

 **As of this posting I made it 7 and a half days without a drop of alcohol. Then had something depressing happen and hit a couple of gin shots and a 40 oz of malt liquor. However, after that I've now made it two days without drinking. It's…..not hard….but it's not easy either. I wake up in the morning, and when I think "I'm thirsty" the first thing my mind supplies is either a six pack or a bottle of gin. Maybe you don't care about my personal life, but I like sharing my battle with others. It's one thing to drink to relax or have fun, but please guys believe me when I say that you never want to get to the stage I have. Please please please, if you are drinkers, or plan to drink, don't let it control you. Next chapter will be up when I'm able to write it. And THANK YOU to all of the favs, alerts, and reviews. It's so appreciated.**


	8. Meanwhile, At The Market

"Please enjoy your purchase young man. I think your mother will love it." The elderly lady that ran the stall smiled down at Eren, the boy having spent a solid ten minutes looking over her wares before making a choice.

The boy smiled back at her, eyeing the colorful shawl that had first dragged his attention to the stand. "I know she will. Thank you very much ma'am." Putting the gift away into his satchel and returning to Mikasa and Armin, Eren took a moment to look around them, not for the first time, and sighed in content.

They'd made it ten more feet before they encountered a man in a dark coat and hood, standing in front of a shabby looking cart. "Got some rare things on sale stranger." His voice was like gravel; rough and coarse.

"Um, not thanks sir."

"Come back anytime."

"Yeah, sure thing." The three would most definitely not.

It had been seven months since the Titans had breached the Wall. Seven months since he'd nearly lost his mother to one of those monsters. In another world he would be an angry, lost little boy with no sense of control. However, Eren, as well as his sister and best friend, adapted well to the setback humanity faced. Every minute of every day during the weeks of recovery Carla spent suffering through, Eren and Mikasa attended to her every need. At first the close-knit family had stayed in an infirmary, but once Carla had healed enough to consult the use of leg braces and crutches, the infirmary had to give her bed to another.

Eren and Mikasa endured with fear and sorrow as their future was now a clouded uncertainty. The duo had been forced to beg others for anything they could in order to survive; money, food, water, blankets, etc. The situation seemed like it was going to stay dire, until one evening when they'd stumbled in a quaint little restaurant and bar. The rain that night was coming down hard, causing the alley the three called 'home' to become flooded. After trying to find shelter for several blocks Mikasa made the choice to kick down the closest door and help get her mother out of the weather. While her intentions were well-placed, it was only two minutes after they had entered when Tifa came downstairs.

The two children looked back on that life-changing moment to this day with fondness. By random chance, or perhaps destiny, Mikasa had helped them to no longer be homeless. They did not have to worry about if their next meal would come. Tifa became as if a part of the family. Someone that was regarded like an older sibling to the duo, and a best friend to Carla. And so, with seven months of healing, in more than one way, Eren and Mikasa left a chapter of their lives in order to embark on another.

Such is how we find them now. With some of his allowance Eren had bought a gift for his mother. With how she had done so much for him, and how truly strong she had been while recovering, it was the least he could do. "So where should we go now?" The three had been running around the sector they called home all morning, visiting the shops and stalls, talking with some of their neighbors, and of course passing out the occasional flier or coupon to people encouraging them to come to _7_ _th_ _Heaven_ and enjoy the atmosphere. Tifa was quite generous and gave them a silver coin for each paper given out.

"How about we try-"Whatever Armin was going to say was abruptly cut off when someone knocked him off his feet. It only took a second for the blonde boy to focus his vison on what was happening; just in time to watch a girl with blonde hair snatch the freshly bought shawl out of Eren's hands and start running off. He'd been knocked to the ground, and Eren had temporarily lost his footing due to being robbed and shoved. However, Mikasa, always the fighter, instantly raced after the thief. The two young girls disappeared around a corner, prompting Eren and Armin to join in the chase. While he'd no idea who the girl was, Eren would not let someone steal the gift that he'd just bought.

Mikasa was above and beyond in physical abilities compared to Eren or Armin, and therefore was swiftly able to catch up to the thief. When the blonde-haired, blue-eyed thief turned around to see if she was still being pursued, a powerful fist into her cheek floored her. She hit the ground, but rolled with the momentum of the punch. On her feet once more the girl turned and tried to snap a kick into Mikasa's ribs. Mikasa took the blow with a grunt, opting to strike instead of defend, and tackled the other girl to the ground.

The thief tried knocking Mikasa off her, but before she could swing her arm very much it was pinned down by Mikasa's knee. A small hand around her throat ceased any further struggle. The two girls glared at one another, Mikasa in cold anger and the blonde in defiance. Seconds later Eren and Armin finally caught up to them, stopping a moment to look at what was happening. They closed the distance, Eren taking the shawl from Mikasa, then the three focused on the blonde girl, creating a very awkward silence.

"Why did you take this from me?" Eren frowned at the girl, whom turned her gaze to him. She said nothing, looking away from the siblings.

Mikasa moved the hand that was around the girl's throat to her chin, forcing her to look at them. "Why did you steal from us?" Her tone and voice were harsh, her eyes narrowed into a tight glare.

After a few tense moments the blonde finally answered. "It gets rather cold out here on some nights. At first I thought I was stealing a blanket. Now that I see it wouldn't have helped I'd like you to let go."

The three looked at each other, almost having a silent conversation, before Armin stepped forward. "What's your name?"

"Annie Leonhardt."

Abruptly Mikasa let go of her neck, removed her knee from her arm, and stood with a hand out to her. Annie eyed the hand in confusion, looking up at Mikasa for an answer. "We know what it's like to be in the cold."

Nothing too detached, nothing too personal. It was an understanding however, and Annie would take it. She grasped the other girl's hand and allowed herself to be hoisted to her feet. Now that she stood before them they were able to get a better look over her. She had blonde hair that just barely touched her chin, which had been in a bun before their scuffle on the ground. Ice blue eyes set in a pale face stared at them, while her lips were thin, currently in a slight frown. The clothing she wore was very dirty, and even torn in several places. Her shirt was probably tan when first made, but as it was now it looked more like a dirt brown color. The left sleeve was missing at the shoulder, and a large cut in the material on the stomach showed dirty skin.

The legs of her pants ended in ripped tatters. The pants may have once been gray, but stained as they were about 70% of the material was more a shade of black. Even her shoes were not spared from being damaged in some way. If one looked closely they would see that her right shoe was separating from the sole. If used gently the shoe had perhaps another three months of use before the sole would be gone. All in all, Annie looked every bit like the street urchin she admitted to being.

Before any other words could be said Annie's stomach grumbled loudly. Her face began turning red as she put her hands over it, but her face also held a slight grimace of pain. "S-Sorry about that. It's…been some time since I last ate."

Armin reached into his bag, rummaging around for a second, and pulled out an apple. He held it out to Annie, smiling gently at her. "Here, you can have it. I have another one so it's no big deal."

Annie eyed the apple warily, changing her gaze from the food to Armin and back again. She slowly reached out with a dirty hand and pulled the apple from the boy. The blonde girl eyed the red fruit intensely, however, before she could say anything her stomach growled loudly once more. Annie's cheeks turned a shade of red almost as dark as the apple, and she opted to take a bite. She didn't even take the time to savor the taste before she'd swallowed and had another bite being chewed upon.

"I….t-thank you." Annie looked at the ground, unable to meet the eyes of the others. A hand on her shoulder caused her gaze to move up, locking eyes with Mikasa. The other girl stared at her, not saying a word, but it seemed that several things were said through their eyes. Suddenly Mikasa turned around and headed for the nearby sunflowers. She didn't walk through them, instead she slowed herself until she stood in front of a staircase. Mikasa's hand reached out and ran along the dusty stone, not to rid it of the dust, but to merely find solace. When she turned back to the others she waved them over.

Once all four children sat down they took in the scene around them; children playing, adults enjoying the peace of the day, a gentle breeze passing by. It seemed almost an exact copy of the day when the Colossal Titan attacked. Only, this day was not going to end in tragedy. At the moment, it was ending in a bond.

 **So, a little shorter this time around, but it was meant to be like Another Side, Another Story for the last chapter. There will be some actual progress next chapter. The reason this took so long was because I had two wisdom teeth removed and the healing process was hard on me.**

 **Some of you asked in your reviews if this was a crossover with Final Fantasy. It's not I'm afraid. I've been putting cameos from various people in several chapters. I enjoy having a shout out here and there, with the hope that people recognize them.**

 **Next chapter will hopefully be up faster. Unless something major happens I won't be so distracted this time.**


	9. A Novel Idea

Erwin Smith considered himself a practical man. Whether it be in his military duty or in his mundane daily routines. If he saw something that he believed would give him an advantage he made use of it. He was by no means a manipulative user, he just knew that one couldn't afford to throw away the winning card if it was dealt to them. In the world they lived in one had to keep their eyes open for such things if they wanted to survive to live another day.

Imagine his surprise seven months ago when Hange brought him a large bat creature that she claimed was now her pet. Now, seeing as anything that wasn't human was usually out to kill them, his first thought was to have the animal killed. However, Hange talked him out of the idea. She wanted him to allow her the opportunity to try training it to follow commands and respond to her, much like the dogs attached to certain units. This creature was large enough to easily consume somebody from the waist up, so how on earth did Hange expect to get it to listen to her?

At first she didn't. She'd convinced the animal to initially follow her by offering it more food to go with the ham she originally gave it. Batty had been wary of her, not because it truly feared her, but with the injury it had instincts told it that caution was to be taken with any unknown. So, after a bit of a walk back, luckily not encountering any Titans during that time, Hange calmly escorted the mutant bat to HQ. The woman had Moblit enter before her, so as to inform everyone to make plenty of space in the courtyard. Hange didn't want anything startling Batty or agitating him to the point that he attacked someone.

Slowly, but surely, Hange led the mutant into a section that was built to house extra horses and carriages. It was empty on account of the Military Police needing the handful of horses for some reason or another. Batty warily looked around the interior, noting the lingering smell of the horses, but seeing none around he glanced at Hange one last time before leaping to the second floor, where extra crates were stored, and making another leap to the supporting rafters.

Being careful to avoid jostling his injured wing too much, Batty almost seemed to scoff at Hange, and an arriving Erwin, before hanging upside-down and folding his wings in. Large eyes closed and the two humans could see his chest taking steady, deep breaths. It seemed that the mutant wished to sleep, and the two humans would oblige him, even though Erwin was glaring daggers at both it and Hange.

"Hange, I would like to speak with you for a moment please." His voice was almost pleasant, like he just wanted to shoot the breeze, but Hange knew that tone, mixed with his glare, meant something completely different.

"Sure thing! Ok Batty, you just get some rest and I'll be back in a little while." The bat ignored her as it continued to rest, while Erwin had already made his way outside and into the courtyard.

With one last glance towards Batty she followed outside, coming face-to-face with a stern-faced Erwin, a nervous Moblit, emotionless Levi, and surprisingly Dot Pixes. Before she could get any words out Levi decided it was time to speak his mind. "I have to wonder if you get some kind of pleasure from stirring up trouble four-eyes." His voice was as flat as the expression of his lips.

"Nope, I just wanted to bring my friend here. You saw how big he was, right? Well I thought maybe he'd be a good companion." She hadn't lost her wide smile at all since walking through the gates, and now with her speaking about this creature like it was some kind of cat really made Levi question her sanity.

Erwin intervened before Levi could say, or do, anything more. "Listen Hange, what reason do you have for bringing something like that behind the Walls? It's obviously not a natural animal given the size, what would you have done if it tried to eat you?"

"Oh come on. He's not gonna eat anybody. Just be nice to him and you'll be fine."

"He attacked you."

"Shut up Moblit."

"I'm just saying."

"You are both idiots."

Erwin nodded in agreement with Levi, then looked back at the stable that housed their new guest. Once everyone realized he was apparently thinking on a decision of some sort they shut up, waiting patiently for his next words. Pixes, however, stood alongside his fellow Commander, also eyeing the outline of the bat, before turning his gaze towards Erwin.

"Hange," Erwin finally turned away from the stable, locking eyes with a suddenly calm Hange, "This bat, if we were to attempt to train it, what purpose would it serve?"

"I could have him help me with recon in places that are infested with Titans. Plus, he has this really awesome yelling attack thing, which might do some damage against them." Hange looked to the stable, "If he were to get bigger than he is now he could really help against some of the larger sized Titans."

Erwin looked to the stable once more, before apparently making some decision of a sort. "You three return to you duties. Hange, for the moment only you and myself are to enter that stable. Anyone else that is found messing around there is to be brought to me immediately. Pixes," He turned to the other man, "Would you mind accompanying myself to a little get together with some of the other superiors?"

"Not at all Smith. Even if I had something I was currently doing, I'm quite intrigued by whatever it is you might have on your mind." Pixes smiled lightly, taking a sip of from his flask.

"Thank you. Levi, gather your squad later today and have them on standby for further instructions. Depending on how things go I'd like you to help with a little demonstration I just thought up."

"I'll get right on it." Without waiting for any more instructions the clean freak set out to find his small group of comrades.

Erwin nodded in approval before heading away, Pixes following him and listening to another detail meant for just them. "While I find where Dok is would you mind tracking down Shadis?"

"Sure. It won't take me very long hopefully. Where do you want us to meet you after I find him?"

"I'd like for us all to confer with Zackly. However, to be on the safe side, once we are gathered, then it would be best to determine a location that will be secure and away from listening ears."

Pixes frowned just a bit at that. "You suspect that someone may be spying on you? Or perhaps on one of us?"

"In our line of business you can never be too careful. I feel it would benefit to keep only those that need to know informed of certain things at the moment."

"Such as?"

"To see if perhaps we can locate more of these abnormal animals. So far humanity has encountered a large lizard and a large bat. It begs the question of what else might be out beyond the Walls, and if we could tame them to the point of being useful."

Pixes hummed an affirmation, the idea sounding like a positive boon to him in his mind. "I shall see you then. Perhaps you'd best think of a plan to enact this idea when you tell it to Zackly. He'll like something even half-way plausible."

Smiling to herself while she looked for some material that would serve as an eventual harness, Hange waved over at Moblit, speaking without pausing in her search, "Go see if we have any fresh watermelons in the food storage. If we do bring me three of them so that later I can give them to Batty. It'll give us the chance to see if he'll take greens as well as meat."

"You know, I really think that you should come up with a better name. Something like…..I don't know…Man-Bat or something like that."

Hange stopped what she was doing and turned her gaze to her subordinate. She stared, unblinking, into his eyes for a full minute before he brought up his hands in a placating manner. "Ok, ok, I'll leave it alone. We'll just stick with Batty."

The mad scientist smiled and gave her unwilling partner a happy nod, returning to her search as if nothing happened.

Oh, how seven months would change things for the military.

 **Firstly, I am deeply sorry for the long delay. I have literally been to hell and back since last updating. I had my grandpa pass away, my cat pass away, my drinking get WAY out of control, and pretty much at one point had a mental breakdown. However, I am happy to note that I am now in a much better place mentally and emotionally, and I've been clean for three weeks now. And will now be putting chapters out again for this story. How fast or often, no clue, but they will come until the story is complete. Thank you to all the support from you guys.**


	10. Hello Again

"Are you sure we should be doing this?" Annie wasn't usually one to act as the goodie-two-shoes, but this was a bit out of the norm for the group of four.

"It's taken some time, but I think I finally tracked him down. Everything will be ok." In the time since the Titan invasion Armin had become surer of himself in ways he never thought possible. Speaking his mind more, taking charge of situations when needed, etc. This was another of those times.

"If mom decides to kill us it's all on you." Eren mumbled, but nonetheless picked up rope they'd 'borrowed' from a snoozing MP, working with Mikasa to secure it to the entrance of the cave. Well it wasn't a true cave by geological standards, it was more like a bloated section of earth that erupted during one of the more recent quakes they knew to be Zilla traversing around below ground. After having not seen the lizard in three months Armin was ready to be reunited with his friend, military by damned. They were lucky that the sun was finally setting for the night; it wouldn't due to be caught in broad daylight entering an area the Survey Corps had cautioned civilians against.

"Alright, now the last time a quake happened was just two blocks to the East. So, I'm fairly certain that we should be able to find him within an hour or so, depending how deep the tunnels below are." Armin tossed the rope, now heartily secured, into the dark chasm before them. Griping the rope with some rough gloves the blonde slowly walked into the darkness, followed by Eren, Annie, and finally Mikasa.

"So what's the plan if we find Zilla? Just throw some food at him?" Mikasa couldn't help but let a little sarcasm slip. It wasn't that she didn't have faith in her friend, but he'd been surprisingly tight-lipped about what they were going to do once down in the tunnels. She didn't like that, especially since there was no telling what they'd find.

"Uh, no, not really. The idea is that once he recognizes my scent we'll be able to get him to stay with us. Considering how he was in the past I'm sure he'll listen to me somewhat." Armin was much more confident than usual, something that the other three were happy about since he was usually quiet and shy. That was the real reason they agreed to assist him with his plan. Whenever Armin managed to come out of his shell he was like the sun in human form; so warm and full of life.

While there was sunlight coming from behind them, the area around their feet was just dark enough for the group of four to take cautious, measured steps. It wouldn't due to have someone slip and fall who knows how far. For several minutes the group traveled into the tunnel in silence, keeping a tight hold of the rope so as to not lose each other. Eventually the jagged tunnel led to an open area large enough to hold five large churches within. Parts of the large cave were rather fresh looking, whilst some looked older and more settled. Both ends of the cave had further openings that led to different paths. However, within the one to the south Armin glimpsed something that nearly gave him a heart attack.

Near the mouth of the divergent path was what looked like a rat; only said rat was the size of three horse-drawn wagons. Its red eyes stared the group down like piercing rays from the sun. At first everyone was so stunned, even Mikasa, that they watched in horror awaiting the large rat to attack them. Only, it never did. After several moments of waiting for death Eren opened his eyes. The rat continued to sit where it was, indeed staring at them, but not moving a muscle. Fear left his face and was replaced by confusion, wondering what was happening and why the rat had not attacked. Slowly the other three also became more confused than anything. Eyes moving to glance at her friends, Annie took the opportunity to close the distance between herself and the mutated rodent.

Within seconds the blonde stood mere feet away from the beast, and yet it still did not move. That was when she noticed it also wasn't breathing, and now that she was closer she could see the reason why. The back of the rat's head was caved in to the point that it looked as if someone had tried to dig out the creature's brain. With little noise the others joined around her to stare at the mortal wound in wonder. Doing their best to see in the limited lighting, the four looked around to see if there were any clues as to what killed the rat, as well as search for signs of the mutant lizard that carved out the cave.

Mikasa squatted down to check the blood matting the neck and legs of the dead animal, wanting to get an idea of how long it had been dead for. Seeing that the blood was not completely dry, and noticing that a faint bit of blood could be seen on the ground, leading further into the cave, the young one decided to speak her mind. "If we follow the trail of blood we may find our lizard friend, but I'm concerned that we could also run into more of these rats." She was by no means scared of the fact they might find trouble, but it would not exactly by helpful if something tore their heads off while exploring the underground.

"Well we were lucky to bring some survival knives. If we run into anything unpleasant we can at least defend ourselves enough to get back to the main chamber here, then make our way back to the surface." Eren patted his belt, being pleasantly reassured that his knife was still attached. Although his mother was a bit reserved on the children carrying weapons, once she knew the reason for it she reluctantly allowed them to handle the blades. It was better to be protected against whatever they might encounter in the caves.

With one last look at the dead rat the foursome headed deeper into the south end of the tunnel system. The cave walls around them were ragged and blunted in several spots. It was evident that something had suddenly, and violently, broke sections of stone from its origin. At least the ceiling above them seemed stable enough to not worry about anything bad happening. The quiet exploration continued for the next half hour, with the only other thing they encountered being another dead rat, this one mostly chewed on and decomposing.

No sooner than the group began to think they may be going the wrong way did the cave open up once more into a substantially large area. The visibility was very dim, almost to the point that they couldn't see two feet in front of themselves. Wanting to be extra careful in case the cave dropped off into a chasm Mikasa brought up a hand to signal everyone to stop. However, before anything could be said, a strange noise started to fill the ears of the children. It sounded like someone was taking a piece of rubber and slapping it over and over with a wet hand.

Squinting her eyes and looking in the direction she thought the sound was coming from Annie spotted several large fish flopping around on the rocks and doing everything they could to stay alive. Speckled throughout the school of fish were numerous dead ones, mostly left in pieces and crushed remains. To the right of the large group of fish was a decently sized underground lake. It looked to stretch out at least 200 feet, and who knew how deep, with the very far end slightly lit up with a beam of sunlight coming down from a chasm in the ceiling.

However, the four didn't get much time to observe and enjoy their surroundings as a low growl filled their ears. Before them within the darkness a single spot of color appeared. A large circular dark orange glowed with an inner red tinge, only 50 feet away from where they stood. The dark shape before them shuffled about and began to move in their direction, the slight white shine of what looked like large teeth joined the orange within the deep black.

 **'Grrrr….'**

The large shape moved to within 10 feet of the foursome, inhaling a handful of times in a clear indication it was taking in their scent. Armin swallowed the thick lump in his throat before moving closer to the shape of what he believed was his friend. Then to his horror he began to really make out the shape of the creature before him. Instead of seeing a back covered in large scutes the blonde saw that the creature had smooth, scaled skin of a tanned color. Where he should have seen a rectangular, iguana-like head he saw an almost triangular head in the vein of a komodo dragon he'd once seen in a book. The creature's length could not be measured due to it partially resting within a burrow in the rock, but what he could make out of it showed it was nearly the same size as Zilla the last time Armin saw his friend.

Armin took steps away from the unknown lizard until he backed into Eren. Feeling his best friend move his over slightly the sound of three knives leaving their sheaths filled his ears.

Mikasa moved to the other side of Eren, while Annie moved to Armin's left. Mikasa shifted her gaze momentarily from the monster to Eren then back once more. "If we can distract it, even for a second, we can run back to the smaller tunnel and put some distance between us. Annie on my signal throw your knife at one of its eyes and that's when we'll break." However the plan never got the chance to even attempt at success. The ground beneath them started to shake; at first a mild rumble, then a more rapid and frantic shaking. The lizard stopped eyeing them and turned its head to the lake, sniffing the air one or two times.

With a spray of crystal water an iguana-like head burst forth from the watery depths, announcing its presence with a familiar cry. Curved claws reaching out for the shore, Zilla exchanged gazes with the group of four before locking eyes with the unknown lizard.

 **'Hrraaa'**

Just when the humans thought that they were about to see two mutated monsters fight in the cramped space, Zilla did something that shocked them to the core. Instead of biting or using his atomic breath, Zilla instead extended its tongue and gave the other lizard a long lick on a scaled cheek.

"Uh, what?" Four voices said at once.

 **Sorry about the wait on this one. Lately work has been murder and just leaves me with a feeling of struggle when it comes to writing. But, for a shorter chapter, which I might start putting out for this story in order to release them sooner, this one hits the marks I wanted. It introduces Zilla's home, brings Armin and Zilla together again, and also we get to see a new monster that is gonna keep Zilla company.**


	11. Expansion Pack

**Sorry about the long wait on this one. Life in general has just been busy so putting this together took a bit.**

One week had passed since the four children had been reunited with Zilla, and learned of another monster that was apparently his mate, which Mikasa named Komodithrax as it looked like an enormous komodo dragon. Although they wanted to see how Zilla and his mate were doing after that first day, circumstances had prevented them from coming back until today. Well, Armin and Annie could've returned if they'd desired, but Eren and Mikasa had spent the week helping their mother. Lately 7th Heaven had seen a larger than normal influx of customers, and so with Tifa's permission, the duo had assisted with minor things needed around the restaurant.

For the most part they'd been asked to keep the guest rooms, kitchen, and stock room clean. The tasks weren't hard by any means, and Tifa paid the two for all their work, so really they didn't mind being asked to work a few hours each day. Carla at first had been against the idea just the slightest, after all it was her job as a parent to work and provide for them, but then Eren explained that she didn't need to push herself to the point of exhaustion to take care of them and that she better get used to having them around for the week. The mother of two laughed rather hard that day, and treated her children to a roast that night as thanks for being so stubborn.

Carla voiced her negative opinion about them going down into the tunnels to seek Zilla, citing that they could be unstable and collapse on them, but in the end she relented to their plans. As usual she told them to look after each other and be careful. So, once more descending into the tunnels below to meet with the two monsters, the group of four was extra cautious of the chance that they could run into one of those giant rats. Nobody really wanted to be chewed up and eaten after all.

Eventually they once more reached the large chamber currently housing Zilla and Komodithrax, the latter of which was again resting partially in an alcove. Zilla, on the other hand, was laying along the edge of the water, one eye opening and glancing in their direction. He gave a barely audible growl of greeting, then turned his head towards the other large creature. A small noise towards it, with one in return, before they both looked to the children.

Annie pulled off her backpack and began to search for something she'd bought just for this occasion. Finally getting ahold of it, the blonde pulled out a very large salmon wrapped in paper. Sure, it wouldn't be much, if anything, compared to the amounts of fish that they probably ate regularly, but it was supposed to be a trust building gesture between their group and the monsters. Although Zilla was still very close with Armin, the gap in time since having last saw the others, and only having met Annie the week before, meant they needed to grow a bond in order to safely stay around. Plus, if they could get Komodithrax to trust them like they wanted Zilla to, it would only add to the situation in a positive way. After all, the foursome had discussed what the possible outcomes of keeping in contact with two large lizards could be.

Zilla eyed the offering for a moment before he opened his mouth, allowing Annie to toss the fish to him. The salmon was consumed easily, with the lizard letting out a groan of approval at the gift. Next, Eren opened his pack as well and produced a fish offering of his own to the Komodithrax. Said lizard growled when the boy moved a little too close for its liking, but upon smelling the fish it moved its head in the direction of the food. Like Zilla the female monster accepted the offering, small as it may be, and as thanks she extended her tongue and licked the boy.

"Ugh, I could've done without that you know." Although the saliva did have a smell to it, he wasn't truly all that upset. After all, it meant that positive progress was made towards getting the tan lizard to trust them. Armin had brought up the idea that, since Zilla had defended him and listened to him when Shiganshina was breached, that if they could get him used to their presence they could have something that would be able to push back the Titans and give humanity a chance to leave the Walls for good.

The idea was something that Eren himself was on the fence about. True, they'd seen Zilla take down Titans like they were paper, but considering that the land beyond the Walls was said to be an endless expanse filled with the man-eating monsters, taking back any significant amount of territory would be hard. But, for the sake of trying to do something, _anything_ , the four would stick to the plan. Fate had other ideas, however, that would cause them to alter any plans they were thinking up.

" **Hrrraa….grrrrllllll** "

Zilla looked at his female companion, then down to the four of them, then he started clawing his way towards the other end of the cave. The humans had no idea what the lizard was doing right now, but with horror they noticed he'd begun to dig a fresh tunnel. Worrying about their current location collapsing crossed their minds, but worse than that was that Zilla was clawing in an inclining direction. It seemed that the monster wanted to breach the surface and he would not be stopped.

Stone gave way as the mutant began to make progress into the ground, steadily leaving their sight, and a moment after his tail disappeared the other mutant followed into the newly made tunnel. It took several moments for the worst of the shaking in the cave to stop, leaving four worried and frantic children to their own devices. For what seemed an eternity nobody said a word, until Mikasa finally broke the silence.

"We need to go after them. If they get topside there's no telling what the Garrison will do in response." Her normally stoic voice had the faintest hint of concern to it, belaying the urgency of the situation.

Annie, however, raised a thin brow at the other girl. "You don't expect us to be able to stop them do you? They could crush us to paste if they wanted."

"Of course not. What we need to do is try and run interference against the Garrison. With any luck they'll listen to us since Zilla was the one that defended the gate when we were attacked."

Now Armin turned his gaze from where his friend had been to Mikasa. "But, your mom told us to keep quiet about our connection with him. She said that the military might not like that little bit of information."

A small nod was the response, but the frown on Mikasa's face was steadily showing now. "Yes, but I don't think that's going to be helpful to us now. Either they'll listen to us, or if they go in swords first, they'll get slaughtered. We have to at least try."

"Enough talk, let's get going." Eren took charge of the group, a rare event to their foursome, and started a brisk jog up the tunnel. Without another word Mikasa followed him, Annie and Armin right behind her.

 _Elsewhere_

He'd spent much too long underground. Although he and Possible Mate would venture out to the place where the humans used to live before the Large Ones invaded, making the entire area part of their territory, a lot of the time recently had been with the two of them staying below. It was nice of course. The coolness of their nest provided comfort when lounging around, and the watery areas provided an abundance of food. Yes, Zilla found their nesting area to be nice, but that's all it was: a nesting area. Should he and the female decide to mate she would lay the eggs there for protection against threats and to allow them to hatch with a close food source. The two mutants needed more though.

He could feel the stirrings of the desire to mate with his female, and that feeling was growing every day, and he himself was growing still. Where he'd once been the same height as the Large Ones, he was now able to look down at them. How tall he had become was not the only thing to change of course. He was stronger, faster, and the handful of times he'd used his fire it too had become more powerful. He was not fully grown, but he was getting there. As such, it was time to find another nesting area that could accommodate their size more freely.

It was with ease that one final push allowed his head to breach the surface. Next his arms pushed through the rock as well, and for a moment he paused to inspect the area around him. The little humans were everywhere, most running away and making a lot of noise. Huh. No Large Ones to be seen. While he knew there would be none in his territory, instincts told him to check anyway. He had to protect Possible Mate and Parent after all. A light pull with his arms, and finding stable footing with his left foot, and Zilla was standing his full 25 meters within Wall Maria.

Possible Mate was behind him, her head showing from their tunnel to join him. Taking a few sniffs of the area Zilla located a nearby water source coming from his left somewhere. When scouting for new territory it was always best to find water first once you were sure that no threats lingered in the area. The strange structures that some of the humans ran into surrounded him, so his only option was to go forward. Sure he could've jumped atop them, or even went right through them, but Parent had told him many times to not hurt other humans. Therefore: humans inside structures=don't destroy structures.

The mutant began his journey forward, stepping over some of the humans with ease. They continued to run in the same direction as him, as well as yelling in fear at the top of their lungs. Annoying, but he wouldn't let it bother him. He just needed to navigate the area enough to locate the water, hydrate himself, and then find an area to start creating a resting spot. It would be rather enjoyable to be able to bask under the warm sun, which happened to be high in the sky for the moment. Yes, bask under its warmth while cuddling with Possible Mate if she allowed for it. Last time he'd tried to do so without warning she had bit him in irritation.

Hmmm? On the ground before him was some small, furry animal that stood on four legs. It did not run away like the humans around it, instead barking at him somewhat aggressively. The little thing did not attack him, just barked like that would somehow scare the lizard away. It didn't obviously, but it did get the mutant to stop. The animal, a dog as the humans would call it, was no real threat to him or Possible Mate, not by a _long_ shot. However, if it felt the need to challenge him like it was he needed to oblige the little guy, after all, he had to show that he owned the area.

Crouching down and looking the dog in the eye, which caused it to bark louder, Zilla opened his mouth to 'speak his mind' as it were. " **Hrrrrrraaaaaaa!** " The dog was nearly blown away from the force of the roar, and once Zilla stopped his call the pet ran away yelping as if someone had just stepped on his tail. With his dominance asserted Zilla resumed his pace to the water. A split in the path ahead was just what he was looking for. Intersecting paths would see him go left, forward, or right if he so desired. Smelling that his objective was still to his left he took that forking road, his long tail accidently brushing into some of the structures. It was just surface damage, so he wasn't worried about harming any humans then.

Ah, a number of the humans were landing atop the structures using that strange thing of their backs that let out steam. He remembered those from when he'd fought the strange Large One at Parent's request. The lizard had witnessed the tiny humans attacking the Large Ones with metal while zipping through the air. A good idea to keep away from the monsters since humans were so fragile. He wondered what they were doing. Most kept their eyes on him and his companion, yelling things to each other that Zilla didn't understand, nor cared to understand really.

He'd been asked by Parent to protect the humans, and he would do that, but that didn't mean getting cozy with them like he was with Parent and Parent Companions. So long as they did not attack him or Possible Mate, he would be fine. Ah! The water source was finally in sight, perhaps another minute of walking to reach it. It was a large river set between two sides of human made ground. Below him the humans had finally grown intelligent enough to run to the side instead of running in front of him. He'd avoided stepping on anyone, although a vendor stall that happened to be right in the middle of the street met with a terrible fate beneath his foot, and now that they were out of the way he could take longer strides.

Finally reaching the river the mutant lowered himself so he could take several gulps of water. He wasn't dying of thirst, but it was refreshing to get some of the fluid into his system. Possible Mate joined his side, extending her long tongue to scoop the water to her mouth. A small grunt to her, to find out if she wanted some food, while keeping his eye on the humans that kept gathering around them. She declined, for she wasn't really in the mood to eat at the moment. The tan lizard was more interested in finding a place to settle in.

A screech above him tore his gaze from her, looking to see if he could locate the source of the noise. Flying through the sky was a bat large enough the he was sure it could cover his whole snout if it landed there, heading in his direction while another of the humans held onto it. He answered its call with one of his own. He didn't know if the bat wanted to challenge him, but if it did he would make sure that it regretted so.

 _Outside the Walls_

He had to get somewhere away from these things. Each hop put distance between it and those big things that had torn mother apart. She was large like them, but against a group she had stood no chance of survival. Seeing that he was still a juvenile and not as large as her, when he tried to defend his siblings the beasts dealt with him easily. They had never bothered his family until mother had tried to kill one of the smaller ones to provide food. That apparently set the rest of them off and within no time at all his whole nest was destroyed, siblings eaten, mother torn apart, and his jaw cracked. Although he could feel his bones slowly pulling back together, painfully of course, with no other member of the family left he got away as quick as he could.

They did not seem to be able to keep up with him that well. The beasts could run, but his jumps were long enough and frequent enough that the shrew put distance behind him quick. Perhaps it would be best to travel until the sun disappeared. With enough time and distance he could perhaps reach the circular structure that the family had once seen. Although the smell of lizard was all over the area according to mother, the tall rock would keep the beasts away, giving him a safe place to settle and nest.

 **So there's that. Tell me if you guys like when I write out the POV from the monsters. I feel it's nice to have, since it provides an interesting side to the human-monster dynamic I'm creating in the AU. Anyway, sorry about the wait. I'm hoping the next doesn't take this long.**


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